


Clear As Day

by MarcoFro5



Series: Clear As Day [1]
Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 42,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22468843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarcoFro5/pseuds/MarcoFro5
Summary: Crystal Pelham moves to the Gimel Region and shoots for the stars with her pokemon, family, and friends right by her side.
Series: Clear As Day [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988806
Comments: 47
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

The moving truck lurched to a stop, nearly toppling the stack of boxes I was using as a backrest. I quickly took out my headphones and tried my best to roll up a bag of pretzels.The door opened and light poured into the back of the truck, illuminating the dozens of bags and boxes crammed as tight as could be.

“Crystal?” my dad said, climbing into the truck.

“One sec!” I shouted out.

I descended from my cardboard throne, lifting myself up and off of the box of kitchen appliances and around the bag of Eric’s clothes that doubled as my footrest. My dad looked tired, like a guy who just drove hundreds of miles while his teenage daughter played Mario Kart and listened to music in the back. Still, he smiled.

“You know I was worried about you back here the entire drive, right?”

I chucked my Switch and the pretzels into a bin of blankets and took careful steps between boxes to make it towards him.

“You’d worry about me no matter where I sat,” I said. “The front was too crowded for three anyway.”

I jumped for an open spot between a box labelled “TROPHIES” and my dresser and missed, body falling forward before my dad caught me by the shoulders and stopping me from face planting. 

“I worry because I care, sweetie.”

He helped me find balance and I hopped down out of the truck, more glad than embarrassed. Eric had an annoying smirk on his face as he walked past, the box from the front seat in his arms. It was 90-something degrees outside and he was still wearing that blue hoodie with holes and stains. I punched his arm as he walked past towards the front porch of our new home.

The house was taller than the pictures online suggested, two stories and hella windows. It was still an ugly pea green color with a yellow trim, but we had all the time in the world to change that later. This was move number five, but with the way Mom and Dad talked about this place, I was pretty sure we were staying in the Gimel Region for good. 

There were a lot of trees here, I noticed, eyes glued to the branches and leaves as if something would jump out to punctuate my arrival. I stretched, fingers clawing at the sky before having them touch my toes. It was probably just because I spent the last few hours folded in the back of a truck, but the air here felt good. The sky was cloudless and there was a V of birds flying by, too far for me to make out what they were.

“Stop daydreaming and help,” Eric said, already making his way to the back of the truck for more as Dad stacked boxes at the end of the truck. I jogged to join him, making sure to pick up exactly one more than him as we made our way to the house.

“Weren’t the movers supposed to, y’know, move us in,” I said, adjusting my grip on the three boxes as we made our way across the lawn.

“Flat tire. You’d already know that if you decided to stay up front instead of ditching me for the back.”

He set down his pair of boxes on the front porch and I squatted to drop off my trio before popping back up.

“Aww, did you miss your big sis?” I asked, tousling his blue-dyed hair.

He pushed my hand away and tried fixing his hair before giving up and shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“Psh, no. You’re just better than having to listen to Dad talk about his scar for the millionth time.”

“And that’s why you never grab tail-first,” we both said, deepening our voices and mimicking Dad’s patented finger waggle and head nod.

Eric laughed and it was infectious, the two of us trying to control ourselves before we got back to the truck and Dad. He didn’t seem to notice as we loaded up on more boxes and ferried them back. There were a lot, but thankfully the bigger furniture was loaded on the other truck that was apparently out of commission. Still, the heavy lifting added up after a few trips and it didn’t take long to work up a sweat.

“Can we have the key to start taking stuff inside? Do you know if Mom put some water or something in the fridge?” I asked Dad on my fifth or sixth trip back to the truck.

He didn’t answer and I peeked around the stack of boxes I was holding only to be greeted by a suspicious look. 

“Let’s wait until we get everything out of the truck first,” he said, cracking a smile and quickly turning back into the truck to lift a nightstand with ease.

“You’re hiding something,” Eric said.

“Nope,” he called out, continuing to do a poor job hiding whatever it was.

I set my stack down and narrowed my eyes.

“Mom got us something, didn’t she?”

He stopped in his tracks, composing himself before facing us with a faux smile.

“Yeah, but that has nothing to do with why you can’t have the keys and go inside.”

Smooth as sandpaper.

“You’re probably the worst liar of all time,” Eric said, his boxes on the ground now too. A unified resistance.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing…” Dad said.

“So it’s true, she left something for us in the house?” I asked.

His silence was confirmation enough.

“Lasagna?” Eric asked, nose flaring as if he could sniff it out. He probably could, to be fair, the two of us had packed away so much of Mom’s pasta in our lives that marinara practically ran through our veins.

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s just get these boxes and then-”

I turned to Eric, sparing Dad from having to stumble through another lie.

“What if it’s like a new tv?” I asked.

“A new car in the garage? You’re old enough now.”

Then it clicked, the two of us coming to the same answer at the same time. Better than a tv, better than a car. Even better than lasagna. I think my heart did an actual backflip in my chest.

We sprinted to the front door.

“Whoah, just slow down,” Dad called out. 

But we couldn’t be stopped, not with so little distance between us and the very best thing a teenager could ever want. We reached the porch in no time, squeezing through the gaps in the barrier of cardboard we constructed. Victims of our own work ethic as we half-moved, half-shoved them out of our way so we could get at the doorknob. Ah, right. Keys.

We turned around, looking past the dismantled wall of boxes to give our best pleading look to Dad. His sigh was heavy enough we could hear it as he set the nightstand down and jumped down from the moving truck. 

“Seriously, you two. I would’ve liked to at least get halfway done before we went through all of this,” he said.

“Sorry,” I said, hoping an apology would liven up his pace. He was a big guy, but he wasn’t that big. At least not enough to warrant his agonizingly slow walk across the yard that was definitely on purpose.

He reached us, taking a big step over the boxes with keys in hand.

“That being said,” he said, pausing as he fit the key to their new house into the door and turned it. “I’m excited too.”

He smiled, beaming ear to ear as the door opened. The first floor was spacious, but that may have just been because it was still pretty bare with no furniture or anything on the walls. Hardwood floors stretched from the entryway and around a marble island separating the kitchen from the living room. 

Windows let a lot of light in, illuminating steps on a staircase that I assumed led up to some bedrooms. In past moves, Eric and I would race to choose the best room and stake our claim. This time, we didn’t, instead making our way to a box situated on the island.

It was already opened for us, felt lining the inside with two red and white balls nestling inside. There were two place cards with mom’s handwriting above each ball, “Crystal” written on the one on the left.

“Your mom wanted to be here when you saw them,” Dad said. “But you know how busy she gets at the gym.”

“So cool,” Eric said, grabbing his poke ball and rubbing it with his thumb.

“We both decided you two were old enough now to have your first pokemon. It’s a fresh start for all of us and a perfect time to-”

I hugged him, arms wrapping around him and squeezing as tight as possible.

“Thank you,” I mumbled, face smooshed against his chest. 

For years, I begged and pleaded and bargained for this moment. I'd bawled alone in my room when Aunt Carol gave Victoria a pokemon last winter and now I was crying tears of joy, wetting my dad’s shirt in the process.

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing at the wet spot and wiping my eyes.

My dad leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“You’re welcome,” he said, wrapping an arm around me and squeezing. “Now, go ahead.”

He nodded in the direction of the box and I reached out and palmed the poke ball, its weight reminding me of a tennis ball by how light it was. I noticed a note left in the spot the ball had rested.

Crystal, I’m so proud of who you are and who you have become. May this partner help you shine even brighter. 

~Mom

Before the tears could well up again, I gave the ball an underhanded toss in our empty new home. At the height of its arc, the ball burst open, white light flaring out. Instinct told me to shield my eyes but I couldn’t possibly look away as the light took form on the wood flooring.

My heart raced in anticipation as the pokemon found its footing on the slick wood floor. Light blue fur covered its front half, with yellow bands wrapping around its front paws. Its back half was black, although its hind paws had similar blue fur as the front but with no yellow bands. The head was feline with a super cute tuft of fur on top that immediately made me think of my brother. Big, round ears with yellow inside twitched and it swished a long tail that ended in a star.

“Shinx!” it cried out, mouth open in a smile that showed the tiniest fangs I had ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

I yoinked a cheri berry from the tree in the front yard, fingers soaked in red from where I pinched too hard the past few times. This retrieval was a success though and I added it to my growing collection, pulling my shirt up as a makeshift basket.

Shinx was at my feet, excitedly dashing between my legs. I knelt down, grabbed a berry and held it up.

“Sit,” I said.

Shinx tilted its head, giving a puzzled look but also plopping its bottom down on the grass.

“Good enough!”

I handed the cheri berry over, careful to avoid eager fangs that gobbled it up and sent juice flying.

“Okay, now speak.”

“Shinx!”

“Now,” I said, voice serious. “Thunderbolt!”

I punctuated the command with a point towards a pile of discarded boxes and bubble wrap.

Shinx did nothing, simply looking up at me with a happy expression.

“Pfft, really Crystal?”

I turned to see Eric behind me, his Shinx held in his arms and hugged close. It lazily looked up at him as he spoke.

“We just got them, they’re not going to know anything like that. Right, Alexi?”

Alexi yawned, nuzzling closer to him and closing its eyes. I stood up, making sure not to let the berries fall to the ground and into my Shinx’s clutches.

“You named yours already?” I asked, stepping closer to get a look at his Shinx.

It was pretty identical to mine; the biggest difference I could make out was that the tuft of fur on its head seemed to curl while mine had a cowlick.

“I figured the earlier the better so that it would get used to it. I wasn’t sure if it was a boy or a girl so I just went with something that could work both ways. Besides, Alexi is a badass name.”

“Language,” Dad said as he walked past us, box in tow.

There was a pang of guilt watching him lug box after box of stuff inside while we stood around and played with our pokemon. That guilt disappeared when Shinx jumped against my shins trying to get at the berries, forcing a smile on my face. Still, I ran after him and into our new house.

He had a nice system going, each area of the house holding a collection of boxes. I made my way into the kitchen where he was putting up his collection of one-use appliances into a cupboard. 

“Hey Dad, you were a trainer back in the day right?” I asked, leaning against the marble countertop.

“Yeah. Well, I still am. It’s like riding a bike; just because you don’t do the Tour de Kalos doesn’t mean you’re not a cyclist anymore. Besides, you know I can go toe-to-toe with your mother if need be.”

Sure you could, Dad. Mom was the best trainer I had ever seen, barely missing out on joining the Elite Four back in the Bet Region.

“Could you, uhm, train me?”

He turned to face me, setting aside a contraption that could exclusively core pinap berries and nothing else.

“That’s really a better question for your mother.”

“I don’t need like a full breakdown, just how to figure out attacks and weaknesses and stuff.”

“And that is better suited for your Aunt Carol. Look, I’d really like to get everything inside before the other truck gets here.”

“Please?”

I glanced down at Shinx for backup in the puppy-dog eyes department but it was too busy trying to snag the star at the end of its tail. Dad was watching too, sighing before pulling out his phone.

“I’ll text your Uncle Mark and see if I can buy his help with a few beers your mom put in the fridge.”

Sarah Pelham, ever the planner.

“Ask him to bring Victoria too!” I said, admittedly eager to show off after she rubbed her pokemon in my face for the past six months.

Dad nodded, attention glued to his phone as he pecked out the text one letter a time and disappeared down the hallway.

I fetched a thermos out of a box and unloaded the berries into it, the front of my tank top hella stained. I washed my hands and started looking for the boxes that had my clothes. I searched through the boxes on the stairs where most of my stuff was, inspecting a few shirts before tossing them back in.

Tail hunt over, Shinx bounded after me, hopping up the stairs to get a better view. I lifted up a purple top with white, lightning-style stripes down each side and tossed it back in the box, sparing myself from the inevitable judgment from my cousin. Shinx yipped, either attention-starved or agreeing with my choice. 

“I still know so little about you,” I said. “But I guess you don’t know much about me either.”

Shinx sat down on the steps and the wood must’ve been too cold because it immediately stood back up. I grabbed a sweater out of the box and set it next to Shinx, making a little nest. Shinx climbed in and I found a black shirt with a shooting star design from hip to shoulder that would work, taking off my tank and putting it on instead. It didn’t really go well with my light wash jean shorts, but whatever. 

“I’m Crystal,” I said, extending my finger and rubbing Shinx’s paw. The fur was impossibly soft and there was a faint crackle of static. “I should probably give you a name too, hm.”

Eric mentioned not knowing whether his was a boy or a girl. I lifted Shinx up from its sweater bed and it whined, having just got comfortable. I lifted it above my head, trying to see past its black fur.

“Uhm, what are you doing?” Dad said, re-entering the room. 

A little embarrassed, I pulled Shinx back down and close to my chest. Dad held a silver-lined box with a cloud design engraved on the top. The cloud had a lightning bolt in the center, the edges shimmering as light from outside struck it. 

He stepped closer and grabbed a hold of one of Shinx’s blue back paws. 

“You can tell the difference in a Shinx’s gender by these,” he said. “Yours is female since the black fur stops at the feet.”

He held it up so I could see the black fur ending at the ankle. 

“They’re like little shorts,” I observed. 

“Sure… whatever helps you remember,” he said. “Most pokemon don’t have ways to tell apart between gender though and the ones that do aren’t easy to spot.”

I grabbed a hold of Shinx’s front paw, pointing to the cool yellow band that draped around it.

“Do these mean anything?”

Dad shrugged, letting go of Shinx and heading to the front yard, box in tow.

“Again, a better question for your aunt,” he said.

The sky still didn’t have a cloud in sight, sunlight beating down on us and the rest of Polaria Town as I followed him out the door. It was still kind of surreal to be here in Gimel, a nervous excitement gripping my chest and not letting go every time it sort of clicked that I was actually here. 

I wasn’t a stranger, having visited Vicky and the rest of her family on multiple occasions, but it felt different this time around. It felt like home, as lame and campy as that sounded in her head.

Eric jumped up from under the cheri tree, no doubt catching a glimpse of dad’s box. His Shinx fell in step behind him.

“Oh! You’re finally going to let them out?” he asked, eyes wide and smile wider. His personality was like a light switch, capable of going from disinterested to captivated in seconds.

“Don’t say it like I keep them locked up in a prison,” Dad said with a laugh.

He undid the snap locks on the box and it popped open. He grabbed one, tossing it high in the air and catching it.

He tossed the ball close to Eric, his Ampharos bursting out and standing tall. The red light on the top of its head and end of its tail flared brightly as it shook and stretched, leaving trails of neon behind.

“Phree!”

My Shinx jumped down out of my arms, running towards the latest addition to the party. There was a stab of worry, watching my little blue furball run towards a pokemon triple its size. Her size, I reminded myself. That worry was snuffed out as Ampharos spread its arms wide to welcome Shinx with chirps that I didn’t understand but probably made great sense to Shinx. 

She was boundless in energy compared to Eric’s Alexi, which stayed close to him, uncaring about Ampharos’ presence. Same species, totally different nature it seemed. Maybe that was intentional on Mom’s part, although I wasn’t sure how much research was put into which one we got. 

But I was sure that mine was a perfect fit for me. We checked a lot of the same boxes in terms of personality, love for sweet berries, and hopefully lots of other things once we got to spend more time together. It didn’t feel real, watching Shinx sprint around Ampharos in excitement, like someone could pinch me and I’d wake up in bed back in Bet. Ampharos made a noise and Shinx matched it, entire body flashing bright yellow a few times and blinding me a little.

“Laserdream!” I shouted, blinking away the faint spots in my vision and clapping my hands together.

Every person and pokemon present looked at me like I had Doduo heads. Except Shinx, who ran over my way with fangs peeking out of her smile. I met her halfway and knelt down, petting the tuft of hair on the top of her head.

“Laserdream. I’m thinking that could be your name maybe? If you like it, of course.”

“Shinx!” Laserdream replied, closing her eyes and nudging against my hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Our house sat in the southwest corner of Polaria Town, a pretty fair distance from the other houses I could see. It was a nice change of pace from our old apartment back in Bet where you couldn’t even sneeze too loudly without a neighbor calling in a complaint. Here, there was enough room for Dad to let out all of his pokemon.

His Mareep nudged against my leg, soft wool tickling the back of my calf. I nudged it away towards the other three that were surrounding Eric and Alexi on the ground, Ampharos keeping watch over them like a shepherd. No time for distractions, no matter how cute they all were.

“This isn’t technically a battle, for the record,” Dad said from across the yard. 

His Flaaffy sat between us, pink and black striped tail swinging in the air. It had a collar of thick wool that draped up the back of its neck like a hood to cover its head, cone horns with similar striping as its tail sticking out of the fleece.

“Sure,” I said, giving a sly grin.

“I’m serious Crystal, Flaaffy and I are pretty well trained and I don’t want you to get all discouraged when you lose.”

When I lose. We’ll see about that.

“Laserdream! You ready?”

She wasn’t, attention fixated on the Mareep cuddle puddle happening off to the side.

“We can play after, I promise. Now, let’s see what you’re made of.”

“Shi!”

Laserdream ran forward, getting in front of Flaaffy. Her body flashed bright yellow a few times as she took a battle stance, forepaws down low and tail high. 

“Flaaaaa,” Flaaffy bleated, turning to face Dad looking worried.

“What’s that all about?” I asked him.

“It’s your Shinx’s-”

“Laserdream,” I corrected. “I want her to get used to it.”

“It’s Laserdream’s ability. When entering battle she’ll intimidate opponents, weakening their attack. Every pokemon has a different ability that will help them in battle and sometimes even outside of it.”

“I see,” I said, glancing down at Laserdream as she finished her little scare tactics.

“It’s alright, Fay, go on,” Dad said, gesturing to his Flaaffy to turn back around. Flaaffy bleated again and faced Laserdream down.

“If a pokemon’s attack is weakened then their moves won’t do as much damage right?”

“Yes and no,” he said. “While some moves will hit less hard, others don’t rely on “attack” at all.”

“You’ve lost me a bit,” I admitted.

“To put it simply, you have three kinds of moves. Moves that attack physically, moves that attack specially, and moves that deal with status or boosts or things like that. Outliers from the first two, basically.”

I nodded, following along even though some of it went over my head. Why use moves that didn’t do damage?

“Physical moves are attacks where the pokemon bites or punches or scratches or stuff like that. Special moves are weird things, like calling in a thunderbolt from the sky or unleashing fire breath.”

“Striking moves and blasting moves.”

“Sure, if that helps. There are a lot of exceptions and special cases and most of the time you just have to go with your gut on which is which.”

“And what about status moves?”

He sighed, heavy enough that his shoulders deflated. 

“An absolute headache to explain. The most important thing to remember is that there is a distinction between the kinds of moves you use. Your Sh- Laserdream lowered Flaaffy’s physical attacking. But Flaaffy isn’t a strong physical attacker and doesn’t “strike” to deal damage in most cases.”

“Thanks, that’s helpful,” I told him, meaning it even though it sounded kind of sarcastic coming out of my mouth.

“No problem,” he said, understanding with no issue.

He had been a school teacher once upon a time and that showed now, even though he was out of practice for years. Mom got promoted to leader at the gym back in Bet, Eric and I were born, and he had taken a step back to raise us and never ended up taking that step forward again. Not that he needed to, or even wanted to, given the salary Mom apparently got from the Pokemon League. Not once had I ever heard him complain about running errands or being stuck at home with us all day. 

“Fay, Cotton Guard,” he bellowed, the battle that wasn’t a battle officially starting.

Flaaffy curled up, its wool puffing up to cover most of its face and chest. It shimmered with sparks coming off of it, like clouds with literal silver lining. Laserdream looked back at me. Yeah, I had no idea what that was either.

“She’s waiting on you to tell her what to do,” Dad bellowed out, arms crossing.

“Oh. Okay, Laserdream use...Tackle?”

“Shi?”

“Say it with conviction,” Dad said. “You’re asking your Pokémon to battle for you, be confident in what you’re telling them.”

I nodded and struck the battle pose I practiced in the mirror countless times as a kid. And last night. And the day before that. My body turned, sneakers digging into the dirt, and finger pointing squarely ahead to the horizon.

“Laserdream, use Tackle!” I yelled, shrugging off the cringe that came from doing this in public.

Laserdream yipped and ran forward, zigging left and zagging right as she closed the distance. Flaaffy braced itself as Laserdream leaped, shoulder lowered as she tossed her full body forward. She bounced off like a ping-pong ball, Flaaffy’s wool cushioning the blow and launching Laserdream backwards through the air. I felt my body flinch forward in instinct to try and catch her. 

She landed on her feet, skidding and kicking up grass for a few feet.

“Fay, Thundershock, low dose,” Dad said.

Flaaffy curled its body up again, wool glowing yellow like a thundercloud before electricity crackled out towards Laserdream. It arced through the air and hit Laserdream, forcing her to a knee as it coursed through her body.

“You okay?”

Laserdream growled in response and for a moment I thought it was towards me for telling her to go tackle the equivalent of a mattress. But her eyes were focused on the pink opponent who zapped her. Right, conviction. She was in battle mode and I needed to be too.

“Use Tackle again!”

“Shi!”

Laserdream shook off the lingering effects of that Thundershock and barreled forward. Dad didn’t give Flaaffy any commands, his arms crossed as he stood behind his pokemon. Still, Flaaffy curled up like it did before, using the wool on its head to help cover more of its rubbery skin.

“Go low!” I shouted.

There was no response from Laserdream, but she followed through, ducking low instead of jumping as she collided with Flaaffy’s vulnerable legs. They both reeled from the impact, but Flaaffy looked to get the worst of the deal. I felt a spark inside and realized I was smiling.

“Iron Tail,” Dad said.

Even after just getting hit, Flaaffy stepped close to Laserdream and spun around quickly. It’s tail glowed and whipped around, the bright blue ball at the end crashing against Laserdream’s side and knocking her aside.

“Now, Thundershock,” he continued, unrelenting even though Laserdream was still reeling.

“Dodge it!”

Laserdream did, taking the time it took for Flaaffy to charge up its wool to get to her feet and then dove to the side as the electricity was unleashed.

“There you go,” Dad said as the attack harmlessly hit the ground. “Stay alert and lead your pokemon through the battle. The more you communicate now, the less you’ll need it later.”

“Makes sense,” I replied, letting his words bounce around in my head a little. 

Our options were a little limited as the battle continued, Laserdream’s only way of attacking being rushing forward and trying to land hits. But our reaction times got faster and faster as Dad’s Flaaffy tried zapping Laserdream and not letting her rest. It didn’t take long for her to tire out from all the running around though, plopping down in the grass after dodging another burst of thundershock. 

It was only then that I realized how fast my heart had been racing, like I had inhaled and forgotten to breathe while keeping up with the action. It felt anticlimactic, but that might just be because every battle I’d ever seen usually ended in a decisive blow rather than just one side tuckering out. 

Laserdream looked back towards me as I approached, a look in its eyes that didn’t look tired or exhausted or even apologetic. I only recognized it because it was like looking in a mirror. There was a hunger in her eyes, like when you took a bite of food and suddenly felt really starved.

“I know,” I said to her, smiling as I leaned down to pick grass out of her mane. “Me too.”


	4. Chapter 4

“It’s a bit of a mouthful,” Victoria said, studying Laserdream closely. “But I like it! It’s a good name for her. For the both of you, really.”

She stood back up and wiped the blonde hair that had stuck to her forehead from sweat. The sun was setting over Polaria Town but heat still lingered in the air. Thankfully, the other movers managed to beat Uncle Mark and Victoria here, sparing all of us from hard labor.

Laserdream made a satisfied noise after getting the Victoria stamp of approval and I didn’t blame her. It was hard to come by for sure. Victoria stood tall with a posture I was sure Aunt Carol had drilled into her. She wore a white romper with a thin gold belt across the waist and a star-shaped pattern cut into the hem.

I remembered it from when she visited Bet and we went to the superstore. She tried to convince me to get one as well, but it wasn’t exactly up my alley. After countless hours spent getting stains out of my clothes over the years, Mom begged me to stay away from whites and light colors. Besides, her get-up looked like it was a hassle to get out of to pee.

Victoria stood in stark contrast to the pokemon next to her, only reaching her waist, and most of that height was the horns on its head that looked like they could be plugged into a wall socket.

“Thanks,” I said. “Did you end up naming your Elekid?”

“I did actually,” she said. She reached down and grabbed the hole in Elekid’s horn to lift him up like a dumbbell.

“Uhm, does that hurt it?”

“Nah, he doesn’t mind,” she said, lifting him up with ease even though he looked pretty heavy.

Victoria lifted him up until she could wrap him in a hug.

“Crystal, meet Antares. Antares, Crystal.”

Antares stuck his arm out towards me and I dapped him up, careful to avoid the white talon things on the end of his fist.

“Nice to meetcha, Antares.”

“Ele!” he shouted back before wrestling out of Vic’s grip and climbing down her body to reach the ground. Laserdream welcomed her new buddy back by running circles around him.

“He’s a handful,” Victoria said with a sigh.

“You two seem to get along well enough if he lets you just tote him around like that,” I said.

We were in the shade of the cheri tree in the front yard, getting out of the way of the Machamp and Machoke carrying furniture into the house. Dad and Uncle Mark were a couple of beers deep into walking Eric through his first battle, Alexi squaring off against one of Uncle Mark’s Voltorb.

“Oh yeah, he’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Which sounds silly, saying it out loud…” she trailed off.

“I don’t think so,” I said, watching Laserdream play with Antares. “I’ve known Laserdream for less than 24 hours and it already feels like everything is kind of different.”

“Yeah,” she replied, staring off into space.

She seemed off, but I didn’t want to comment too much on it. Although my begging for pokemon was well documented, it was Victoria who was truly obsessed with becoming a trainer. Every time I visited, there was a new gym leader or pokemon poster tacked on her wall and I had witnessed intense debates between her and her mom about the latest discoveries. I lightly punched her arm, bringing her out of a thousand yard stare.

“Want to head out maybe? Show me around now that I’m a bonafide resident of Gimel?”

“Hmm, there is a tea shop I go to after my morning runs, but it’s closer to Aquilar than Polaria…”

She looked up to the sky in thought, stripes of sunlight peeking through the branches and painting her face. I had looked up the distance between here and Aquilar Town before we moved, trying to gauge how close I would be to Victoria. The results were disappointing, the alleged twin towns just far enough apart to turn a walk into a trek.

“Oh!” she said, startling Laserdream and Antares from a playful game of what I guessed was tag. “Lake Lovejoy is pretty close and I’ve been meaning to visit. Rumor has it that a legendary pokemon lurks at the bottom.”

It sounded a little spooky to be honest, especially with the sun getting low. But I wasn’t about to bail after being the one to suggest we go somewhere.

***

Water slipped through my cupped fingers, most of it falling to the grass before reaching my mouth. Laserdream was faring a bit better, head almost submerged in the lake to drink.

“Always dramatic,” Victoria said from behind us.

Laserdream and I turned to look at her, water dripping from our chins with no shame from her judgmental eye roll. Her arms were crossed, a big tote with a logo that looked like a cross between a star and a lightning bolt in the center.

“You know, when you said close I thought you meant right up the road, not an hour away,” I said.

“It’s been 15 minutes.”

“A long 15 minutes! And I’m thirsty. A bag that big and you didn’t think to pack anything to drink?”

She got closer and pulled out a thick blanket from the tote, laying it down on the grass. Antares helped her straighten it out into a neat rectangle before sitting down. I joined her, Antares getting upset as I wrinkled up a corner. He tried to fix it only for Laserdream to sit on it before he got the chance.

Victoria pulled out a container full of berries, bits of pokemon food, and... batteries? She popped it open and used the lid as a sort of serving tray for the food, giving Antares a serving on one side with Laserdream a little pile on the other.

“Shi!” Laserdream said, giving Victoria a fanged grin before chowing down. Antares looked less interested.

Instead, he tried to get at the container Vicky held away from him.

“No,” she said. “Not until you finish your food.”

There was a staredown between the two until Antares relented, picking up a berry and popping it into his mouth. Victoria leaned back and sighed.

“His dessert,” she explained. “About a week after I got him, he decided it was a good idea to stick his finger into an electrical socket after it charged my laptop and he treated it like an all you can eat buffet. The whole neighborhood lost power until Mom was able to come home and fix it.”

“Your dad wasn’t able to handle it?”

“Dad can barely handle not blowing the entire house into smithereens,”

I nodded, remembering the often told story about what happened to Dad and Uncle Mike’s first apartment when they went to Star U.

Antares scarfed down the rest of his meal and then opened his mouth. Victoria tossed him a battery and he caught it, crunching it in his mouth and eyes going wide as I guess he reached the chewy center of whatever he was wanting.

“That’s so weird,”

“It’s expensive,” Victoria said. “They have to be unused and he prefers AA. Every week I’m having to take the small stipend Mom gives me for helping her out and walk a mile to Lucario Shack to spend it on freaking batteries.”

I wondered if Laserdream had some weird quirks I’d eventually find out about. Would I wake up tomorrow to find that she snuck into the dryer so her fur would get all poofy from the static?

“Is that what’s been bugging you lately? Struggling to keep up with him?”

“Kind of…” she said, trailing off. “It’s more like I want to do right by him. We’re going on an adventure pretty soon.”

An adventure. My heart leapt at the word.

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah,” she said, letting the reveal sort of hang there in the wind.

As the sun hung over the trees, orange and purple hues sunk into the lake’s surface. We were the only ones here and the lake was sort of caged in by a perimeter of trees with only one way in and out. I opened my mouth to talk but she beat me to the punch.

“They say this lake is actually a crash site, a scar from a legendary pokemon,” she said, raising her head up to the sky, face bathed in the sunset’s glow. “A meteor was known to soar across Gimel, flecks of silver behind. Those flecks fluttered from space to the sky and then down into the earth. Sinking into the clouds, and the grass, and the water. Every year, the meteor would visit and make the world shine.”

She raised a hand, swiping it across the sky.

“Until one day it fell,” she said, hand lazily falling to the ground. “It tumbled through the air until it crashed right here, carving the ground and going so deep that no one has been able to reach the bottom. The entire region shook from the impact and the legends called it the Silver Night, all of Gimel shimmering in sparkling gray.”

“What happened then?”

She shrugged.

“Depends on which legend you read. Most say that the meteor was actually a pokemon and that it sank so deep into the earth that it became part of Gimel itself, its energy creating the pokemon throughout the region. Others say a hero rescued the pokemon from the wreckage and the two fused into a being of untold power - both human and pokemon. And a few say that the pokemon is still down there at the bottom of the lake, sleeping until it can return to the stars again.”

It all sounded like phooey to be honest, but Victoria seemed almost entranced, the sun still making her eyes sparkle. I had heard crazier things and the lake did have a mystical quality to it.

“Which do you believe?”

I expected her to take a moment, assess the options before giving an answer. She responded without skipping a beat.

“All of it,” she said. “Sorry, I know its a cop out but who am I to say one way or the other really. I hope that one day I can uncover the mystery and get a definite answer, but until that day I’m fine letting the lake keep its secrets.”

As if on cue, the water in front of us started to bubble. The bubbles grew larger and there was a deep, guttural sound. Laserdream tried to lean over into the lake to see and I quickly pulled her back.

“Victoria, what the hell did you do?! Did you say some magic words?”

“I-I don’t know!”

“Hey, if this is that thing at the bottom of the lake…” I said, eyes wide in fear as I started to back away.

“Yeah…”

“Then it’s going to be the size of this lake isn’t it?”

Two small fry pokemon would be no match for something like. Heck, I didn’t even know if any amount of pokemon would be able to stop that. As we sat there frozen, the monster breached.

Pink, curled ears surfaced and the rest of the beast appeared. It’s mouth was wide open, fangs showing as more of it came into view. We both groaned when it fully revealed itself, yawning loudly before staring us down with a dopey expression. The “beast” was no bigger than us, a white-tipped tail sticking out of the water behind it.

“Sloooooooooowwwwww,” it yawned.

“Freaking Slowpoke!” Victoria shouted, throwing a berry at its head.

It didn’t flinch or even react. Instead, its large eyes slowly drifted down to the pile of food and back up to Victoria. It just looked at her, like there was a single brain cell in its big pink head bouncing around.

“I think it liked your story,” I said.

It blinked, hard, as if it took all of its effort to do so.

“Are you trying to fight?” she asked it

Its eyes drifted back down to the food. There was another staredown but this time Victoria was the one who gave in, reaching into her bag to pull out more food.

“Oh,” she said.

“What is it?”

She brandished a poke ball from her bag, spinning it in her palm a few times.

“Forgot I had some of these.”

“You’re going to catch that dopey thing?”

“A water type could be handy when paired with Antares and I’ve heard they’re actually quite revered in some cultures,” she said, already trying to justify it.

The Slowpoke’s eyes slowly lifted to look at the ball in Victoria’s hand. I felt my IQ dropping just by watching it. Antares seemed engaged though, tapping its fists together and spitting out the remnants of its battery onto the grass. He looked at Victoria for approval to I guess knock the living daylights out of his future teammate. Victoria shook her head.

She tossed the poke ball and it hit Slowpoke squarely on the nose, still eliciting no reaction from it. The ball bounced off, opened, and covered Slowpoke in red before sucking it into the ball. It fell into the water and floated back up, wiggling three times before the center button clicked shut to confirm the catch.

Victoria stood up and carefully fished the ball out of the lake, drying it with her romper.

“Congrats?” I said, unsure how to react. A brand new pokemon, just like that.

She looked at it for a few seconds, doing the ball spinning thing she did before.

“That was my first catch…” she said. “My first catch was a Slowpoke.”

I was ready to pull her into a hug and console her for having to take care of such a dope for the rest of her life.

“My first catch was a Slowpoke!” she shouted with a wide smile, raising the ball high into the air.

Antares followed suit, raising a heavy fist up in the air, even though he hadn’t done anything at all.

“Shi?” Laserdream said, looking up at me in confusion.

 _I’m right there with you, bud_. Part of me worried the Slowpoke’s idiocy was infectious and Victoria would only get dumber from here on out. But for now, we would celebrate.


	5. Chapter 5

I saw stars, and not the cool kind. I saw the kind that made my vision blurry and felt like I could pass out. Impossible to describe pain from smacking my pinkie toe against the dresser coursed through me. I tried to describe it anyway.

“Language!” Dad bellowed from downstairs once my tirade of swears came to an end.

I looked to Victoria for support during this trying time, only to be greeted with a snicker. I’d remember this betrayal, although she did get brownie points for covering Laserdream’s ears during my rant.

They sat on my raised bed, Laserdream in her lap and getting a back rub. Antares was tucked away in his poke ball in her bag. I felt kind of bad he didn’t get to hang out, but Vicky insisted he shouldn’t be near unprotected outlets. She claimed he would get bellyaches, but I was pretty sure she just didn’t want to babysit.

I hopped up on the bed, eager to get off my feet after inspecting my toe to make sure it wasn’t broken. It was already swelling up, but seemed to be in one piece.

“Stop being such a baby,” Victoria said, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to her phone.

Ever since we left the lake, she was glued to the screen pulling up battles of Slowpoke and its evolutions to apparently get inspiration. I gave her a shove and then leaned into her shoulder, watching some redhead with glasses have a Slowbro spray ice from its mouth.

“Are you seriously going to train it?” I said, peeling off of her arm.

“Yeah, I think so,” she said. “It would be helpful on my journey to have different types from just electric. Even if that’s sacrilege in our family.”

“Look at you, being rebellious for a change.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Oh please,” I said. “Don’t act like up until this moment you haven’t been following in your mom’s footsteps. I’m surprised she’s letting you go out on an adventure and not making you stay at home forever so you can take over for her.”

“It was her idea actually,” Victoria said, locking her phone and tossing it aside. Laserdream whined as Victoria shifted in the bed to face me head on, but she quieted once the massage continued.

“So does this mean she’s on board with you being a trainer finally.”

Victoria frowned and it was my turn for an eye roll.

“It’s not too bad, honestly. She gets the research I gather and I get to take on the Pokemon League.”

“In secret,” I countered.

“In secret.”

I jumped off the bed, getting back to work on my room. It was nearly all set up thanks to the movers hauling most of the furniture and the mattress upstairs. This room was smaller than my old one, but taller and had a large round window on the side where I set up my desk. The sun had long since set, but Victoria and Uncle Mike still hung around to help us with the finer details.

“Just how do you plan on managing that? Are you going to come up with some secret identity, even add a little mask and give Antares one to match?”

“I’d need one for Pokey too…” she said, staring off into space like she was seriously considering it.

“I can’t tell what’s worse, the fact you think you can actually keep this a secret or that atrocious name,” I said.

“Pokey is a great name. It’s cute and gets the point across,” she said. “As far as the battling is concerned, Mom will probably find out one way or another to be honest. But what’s she going to do, ground me?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“She’ll have to make me. Mom may have a lot of influence across the region but so long as I’m helping her then she shouldn’t have a problem with what I’m doing on the sidelines.”

It was true for the most part. My mom and Aunt Carol didn’t see eye to eye on how pokemon should be used, but it wasn’t like there was any animosity between them or that Aunt Carol was leading some protest against the gym leaders. She liked results, even if she preferred her way of getting them.

“So when does your journey actually start?” I asked while winding up a wall clock to reflect the current time. Dang, was it really that late?

“Sometime next week, I have to help Mom out with the rest of her research at Shinespright Wood this weekend,” she said.

Just like that, so casual. It sounded terrifying, but I still couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. No, that was the wrong word for whatever this feeling was that gripped my heart tight. Secondhand excitement maybe?

I hung the clock on the wall opposite my bed and looked at Laserdream, who had now rolled over on her side so Victoria could scratch at her underbelly. My mind drifted back to our little skirmish with Dad in the front yard, that hunger in Laserdream’s eyes.

“Why don’t you come too?” Victoria asked, tearing me away from my thoughts and plunging me in the deep end of the question I had been mentally dodging. I wanted to say that I couldn’t because I just moved here. Because I know close to nothing about pokemon. Because I can’t think of a single tangible reason why that would be a good idea. And yet…

“Shinespright Wood is pretty close to here, just like an hour walk. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind you showing up tomorrow” she said, talking about me coming to the research thing, not on her journey. “Besides, I’m sure she would love the opportunity to make a pitch to you about doing research for her.”

“Sure,” I said, although I wasn’t entirely sure on what I was going to be doing. My mind was elsewhere.

“Cool, I’ll text you the map,” she said, fiddling with her phone.

With Victoria’s hands busy sending me directions, Laserdream rolled over and walked to the other end of the bed where I was. I scratched the fur behind her round ears, giving her what she wanted. My worries and doubts faded as I pet her, that ambitious feeling boiling back up.

***

I was halfway through my cup of coffee when the front door unlocked. Victoria and Uncle Mark had left a while ago and the rest of the house was sound asleep, Dad practically a zombie after a busy day. I leaped from the sectional, Laserdream waking up from her slumber at the end of the chaise.

The hug I gave Mom nearly toppled her right back out the doorway.

“Nice to see you too, dear,” Mom said, steadying herself and squeezing back.

I pulled off, giving her a little room to breathe and to actually come inside. All my life I had been told how much I looked like my Mom, but I could never really see the resemblance. Regardless, I always appreciated the compliment. Mom was gorgeous in that sort of effortless way, a youthfulness in her eyes and cheeks. Straight blonde hair hung down past her shoulders, a protest to the expected bob or shorter style most moms sported.

“How was work? Anyone tough?”

She scoffed and that was answer enough. I was sure she was acting as tough as nails in her first week at the job, letting Leonite City and the rest of Gimel know she wasn’t going to be a pushover.

“And just who is this?” she asked.

Laserdream was on her hind legs and pressing against Mom’s leg, trying to get in on the group hug. Mom picked her up, bringing her close enough to her face that their noses nearly touched.

“Her name’s Laserdream,” I said. “Thank you so much, seriously.”

I hugged her again, meaning every bit of force I put into it.

“Sorry I couldn’t be there when you first got her,” Mom said, voice quiet so close to my ear.

I unlatched and made my way back to the kitchen, opening up the microwave. Mom followed, setting Laserdream down before shrugging off her gym bag on the kitchen island. It had more zippers and straps than material, the exceptions displaying a logo with a fanged mouth roaring out lightning.

“It’s fine, you were busy kicking butt and taking names. You did miss us battling though,” I said, retrieving a coffee mug with that same logo on it from the microwave and sliding it in front of her.

She perked up and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the coffee or because I mentioned a battle. After undoing a few clasps and zippers, she whipped out a paper bag from her bag. Even after moving to another region entirely, we could count on a Yama Mama being around.

“How’d you do?” she asked, fishing boxes of rice, noodles, and vegetables from the bag and depositing them on the countertop.

“Dad said I did well, but I feel like I could have done better.”

“And Eric?”

“Abysmal.”

“Be nice,” Mom said with a smile.

“That is me being nice. I only saw bits and pieces, but he didn’t seem too interested in it anyway. His Shinx is definitely the clingy type.”

“Good,” she said, not clarifying which part.

We continued with our nightly ritual of chinese food and coffee, divvying up the lo mein so she had the lion’s share while I got all of the cream cheese wontons. I couldn’t remember when we started doing it, but it was long enough for us to get our preferred portions down to the noodle. Back when I was little, I stayed up one night and caught her coming home with the fast food bag.

She paid for my silence with an egg roll and, although the secret eventually came out, we still ate late night Yama Mama with the caveat that I made her some coffee before she got home. Now, we talked about our days. It was a familiar scene playing out that made this new home feel just a little more worn in and normal.

I told her about what was honestly one of the best days of my life, sharing details about the battle, the lake, and my plans with Victoria and Aunt Carol tomorrow. She told me about the trainers she’d faced and the different pokemon she’d seen. I didn’t know most of the ones she mentioned, but that only made me more interested.

Given the long hours and stress, I never envisioned myself following in her footsteps and becoming a gym leader. Even now, with the rush of my first battle still racing through my body, I couldn’t picture myself cooped up and battling day in and day out. Regardless of the negatives, I envied just how much she got to see and experience each day.

We talked long enough to warrant her getting a second cup of coffee, even though I was sure she was exhausted. She faced 18 trainers today, only giving up two badges in losses she blamed on bad luck. It was selfish of me, but I wanted to keep talking and asking questions until sunlight shone through the windows. As she started to throw away containers and wash out her cup, I realized there was a lot I wanted.

“I want to go on a journey,” I said, excitement making me louder than intended.

It was childish to say out loud, but still satisfying as if I needed to hear the words myself to make sure they were true. I did want to, and I wanted to do it with Laserdream by my side. My conviction twisted into heartbreak when I saw the pitying look on Mom’s face.

“Crystal…” she said.

I put on a fake smile, a hastily made barrier between myself and her.

“Nevermind, forget I said anything,” I said, trying to rewind to before I blurted that out. There was still a way to go to bed on a high note. “It was stupid, sorry, I ju-”

Her hand gripped my wrist as I tried to shuffle away to my room.

“It’s not stupid,” she said.

I didn’t respond, but I didn’t try to pull away either.

“I just don’t know if it’s for you. The world is tough and being out on your own is even tougher. Believe me, I’ve been there.”

“Sorry,” I said, not knowing what I was even apologizing for.

“Let’s talk more about this tomorrow, okay? I’ll come home early, and me and your dad will sit down and talk it out.”

Mom tucked my hair back behind my ear. If it was supposed to make me feel calm, it had the opposite effect. I must’ve looked crazy with a wild grin on my face and hair all over the place. Still she gave me an out in the conversation, a chance to swallow my feelings a bit and get some needed sleep.

“Can I ask why not?” I asked. My facade was gone but a heavy pressure formed behind my eyes. “You said a journey isn’t for me, why not?”

“Can you tell me why you think it is?”

“That’s... not fair.”

“No, sorry, it’s not. But it’s important to think about,” she said. “What is it that you’re wanting, Crystal. Going on a journey is a commitment and I just don’t want you to get discouraged.”

That pressure in my head welled up in the corner of my eyes. Why did everyone keep saying that? Sure, I was flighty and maybe sticking to something wasn’t my strong suit, but this time was different. You said the same thing about piano. And basketball camp. And juggling. And those all ended the same way, a little voice in the back of my head said.

“We’ll talk tomorrow, I promise,” Mom said, leaning over and kissing my forehead. “I love you so much.”

“Love you too,” I said. “Good night.”

I grabbed a slumbering Laserdream and escaped upstairs. Was I supposed to put her in her poke ball for bed or was she fine just sleeping on the bed with me? It was a frustrating question that could’ve been solved by going back downstairs and asking. But I couldn’t after just trying to prove I could go out on my own. I made an executive and selfish decision, propping Laserdream up on a pillow between me and the wall.

With all of that fur, she probably didn’t need the blanket I gave her. Mom’s words still echoed in my head, keeping me up. Now I had a family meeting looming over me tomorrow with both Mom and Dad. Laserdream yawned and then snuggled closer to me. At least I wouldn’t be outnumbered.


	6. Chapter 6

I took my frustration out on my teeth, brushing hard enough that my spit came out pink. Even after a shower, my hair was still frizzy from sleeping next to Laserdream and I worked on fixing it. Despite all the great things that happened yesterday, last night’s talk with Mom kept replaying itself in my head. I’d woken up angry, more at myself than at her after acting like a cry baby and running away to my room when I didn’t get what I wanted.

It was my fault for going in with stupid expectations that Mom would be all for me going on a journey, making her  _ Oh, honey  _ expression hit harder. Her question about what I wanted from a journey kept me up later than I wanted and I still didn’t have a clear answer for her. For her and Dad, I reminded myself, the family meeting looming over my head like a guillotine.

Okay, that was way too dramatic. This was hardly life or death, the worst case scenario being that they told me to wait until I was ready. Even if that was a year from now, I could manage. I’d have no choice but to manage. This was more like a cloud hanging overhead and there was still the small chance it wouldn't rain.

I glanced at the clock in my bedroom and hastily converted my side braid into a messy half-knot behind my ear, securing it with some bobby pins. There were eight hours or so until Mom got home, but I only had two hours until I was supposed to be in Shinespright Wood. I’d wanted to give myself a 30 minute buffer since the map Victoria gave me didn’t detail where exactly in the Wood they’d be, but that was pretty much out the window at this point.

Laserdream was still snoozing on the bed when I woke up, making it a bit easier to put her in her ball. I wasn’t sure if I could press the button if she were awake and staring up at me with those eyes. With her poke ball tucked in the front pocket of my backpack, I made my way out of my bedroom and down the stairs to leave. The sweet smell of maple disrupted my hustle.

“Good morning, Noctowl,” Dad said from the kitchen.

He had quite the spread laid out, bowls of eggs and plates of french toast covering most of the counters. His lure worked as I drifted over to the kitchen instead of the front door.

“Morning, I see you’ve been busy,” I said. “Where’d you even get all of this?”

“Eric and I went over to the market in Aquilar Town to fill the fridge. I heard you had a pretty late night, so I didn’t want to wake you.”

I winced. It made sense for Mom to fill him in on what happened, but I could feel a preliminary “Dad talk” incoming.

“Bluk berries?” I asked.

“A whole stand’s worth,” he replied, nodding towards the granite pestle and mortar on the counter. Indigo covered the inside from where he’d crushed and muddled the berries into a paste. I searched the homemade buffet and sure enough there was a bowl full of bluk maple syrup. Even for someone who loved cooking as much as him, it was a pain to make and I was the only one who liked it out of the four of us. The food looked warm rather than some leftovers from earlier.

He washed a set of plates and pans in the sink, stained white apron keeping him dry. It had been a Father’s Day gift from years ago, with “Hi, Hungry. I’m Dad” written across the chest and a cute picture of a Kangaskhan flipping pancakes right below it. How long had he been down here waiting for me to show up?

“I should get going,” I said. 

“Right, right, meeting with Carol in a forest,” he said. He nudged the bowl of syrup in my direction and it clinked against the plate with stacked french toast. “Eat something before you go at least.”

I grabbed a triangle of french toast and worked on slathering the bluk berry syrup on with a spoon. Just something for the road; it was a long enough walk to warrant it.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” was all I said, really not wanting to get into it. I was starting to make a mess of my smearing so he handed me a napkin.

“Alright,” he said, returning to his dishwashing.

The clock on the stove reminded me I needed to get going, so I only scooped two spoonfuls of eggs, piling them on the french toast and struggling to make it all fit on my napkin plate.

Dad didn’t push about last night and I was thankful for that. Still, I felt bad considering he made all of this with me in mind. The clock was ticking and I really wasn’t in the mood for Aunt Carol’s judgment. 

Dad’s smile widened as I pulled up a barstool and grabbed a few home fries. He handed me a fork and slid an already poured glass of oran berry juice my way. She could wait.

***

Sunlight peeked through the thick canopy of trees, brightening patches of the forest floor. Even though it was the middle of summer, the leaves were various shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. Visually, Shinespright Wood didn’t quite live up to its name but it was pretty nonetheless. What I didn’t expect though was just how loud it was.

The high branches sang as Starly, Pidgey, and other bird pokemon flew overhead. The Wood must have been filled with Nincada judging by the constant whine that had become white noise until I remembered its existence. I felt like a disturbance as I made my way through, the sounds quieting as I got closer to them. Still, I found it hard to concentrate and that wasn’t helped by the fact Victoria had duped me. 

She wasn’t even going to be in the Wood according to the texts she sent when I was already halfway over here. I’d be filling in for her with Aunt Carol while she ran errands in the city up north. Considering Shinespright Wood was the only way for residents in Polaria and Aquilar to reach the rest of the region, there sure was a lack of direction on where I needed to be going. 

I spotted a Sunflora in one of the patches of sunlight, head turned up to face the rays. It made me realize Laserdream was still in my bag, probably still sleeping. Or not, I still had no idea how that worked. I decided to let her rest for now unless something came out and attacked me. 

This wasn’t my first time out near wild pokemon, but it was my first time doing so with a pokemon of my own and it gave me a small thrill. I didn’t have any poke balls to catch them, but if a Pidgey swooped down or that Sunflora decided I was getting in the way of a good soak in the sun, I could toss Laserdream out there and battle. That being said, I still kept my distance as I made my way around the Sunflora and through the trampled path of leaves and sticks. 

I’d been in the Wood for about 15 minutes now and there was still no indicator on where she was. That became a problem as the path forked to the left and right when I reached a thick tree with a Metapod hanging from one of its lower branches. 

“I suppose you wouldn’t know which way I should go?”

The Metapod didn’t even blink. 

“Thought so,” I said.

I surveyed the area to see if either path was recently walked on and wished the Wood would hush for a few seconds so I could see better. While squatting down and squinting to try and make out footprints in fallen leaves, a rustling in the bush right beside me made me fumble for my bag to get Laserdream.

It was the Sunflora blindly walking through the bush, the petals on its head closing up and covering its face. I stood up and looked back to where it had been standing, the patch of sun gone. It walked to where another one was opening up, down the path to the left, joining a pair of Oddish that hopped up and down in excitement at the new visitor. The Sunflora unfurled its petals, and looked back up at the sun with a growing smile.

I tried to get a closer look and as I worked my way around, I saw more and more pokemon finding spots where sunlight reached the ground. After a cursory look back to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, I opted for the scenic route.

The deeper into the forest I went, the more lively it became as pokemon outright ignored my presence to enjoy the sunlight. It made sense for Aunt Carol to set up shop where she could best see whatever it was she was doing and the grass pokemon were pretty good guides to find out where the most sunlight was. I reached another divergence and peeked down both paths to head down the one with the most activity. 

While making my way down the right path, I didn’t cover my face in time as a putrid stench filled my nostrils and made my eyes water. It didn’t take long to find the culprit, a Vileplume standing in one of the bigger spots of sun. Its petals were so heavy that it struggled to hold its head up. Or was that its body with a face on it? It bounced up and down, clouds of pollen poofing up in the air and raining down on the group of Oddish playing below it. Most of the other pokemon were well clear of the scene despite the ample sunlight and with a smell that rancid I didn’t blame them, hurrying along. 

With blurry vision, I finally made my way to a large clearing with tall grass instead of fallen leaves. There were no trees overhead and the sun lit up Aunt Carol off to the side of the clearing. Pokemon scurried out of my way as I made my way over to her. 

She was kneeling down in grass high enough it reached my knees, too preoccupied to notice me at first. Surrounding her were five or six of her Magnemite, each carrying or holding something. One of them greeted me before she did, zipping over and spinning its magnets that held flash drives, keys, a phone, a bottle opener, and plenty more I couldn’t make out due to the motion. A living swiss army knife.

I rubbed its head, watching out for the big screw that I felt compelled to fully twist in.

“Hey bud,” I said to it.

It made some strange whirring that sounded like a mix of dubstep and scratching metal. Aunt Carol must’ve picked up on my presence because she stopped typing on the laptop another Magnemite was propping up for her and stood up. Her computer Magnemite rose with her, staying at an eye level where she could easily look at the screen if she wanted to. I saw a trio of tubby, red bug pokemon at her feet and they looked pretty spooked. Was this research or an interrogation?

Her other Magnemite fluidly moved with her as she closed the distance, even the one that had said hello to me rushed to her side to get near her fingertips in case needed.

“Crystal,” she said with a soft smile. “Thanks for coming out.”

She hugged me and the Magnemite looked out of sorts until she let go and they got back in position around the two of us. 

“Sorry I’m late, Aunt Carol,” I said.

“We’re here in a professional capacity,” she said, smile already replaced with a firm expression. “Call me Professor Dallon or just Professor. Now, come on. We have work to do.”

She turned around and I saw one of the bug pokemon shuffle behind its friend as she walked back over. I followed, wondering just what the heck Victoria roped me into.


	7. Chapter 7

It took about five minutes for me to miss the shade. The friendly Magnemite from earlier brought me a towel, somehow. Knowing Aunt Carol, I wouldn’t be surprised if all of her tools had some weird magnetic filings in them for her pokemon to easily carry equipment around. Or maybe it involved static electricity? Regardless, I was grateful to wipe sweat from my forehead. I tried to return it and the Magnemite spun its magnets and made a sound similar to a board game buzzer. I draped the towel over my shoulder.

“Nico, phone,” Professor Dallon said. 

The little black pupil in the center of Magnemite’s eye went wide and it left me to return to its trainer. Instead of her pulling the phone free from the end of its magnet, the Magnemite held it close to her fingertips for her to tap with little effort. She pulled away and the Magnemite floated up, putting the phone next to her ear so she could continue typing away on her computer.

Between keystrokes, she grabbed flash drives from one Magnemite before taking a swig from a metal thermos held by another in arm’s reach. I assumed it was coffee given the steam unleashed each time she opened it, but soup wasn’t out of the equation. I’d seen her do crazier things in the name of efficiency over the years.

She was in her element here, becoming the eye of a steel whirlwind as Magnemite flew to where they were needed or found position waiting in the wings. Moments ago, I’d gotten the lowdown on their names, but I’d already forgotten most of them. Nico was the nice one who first greeted me and just gave me a towel and I think Vardy was the poor one stuck lugging around the laptop. All of them had their own set of items to carry and their own purpose to help her with her research.

My purpose was much more straightforward. I stared down at the three bug pokemon in front of me. I wasn’t sure if I was acting as babysitter or jailor, but I was given orders not to let them wander off. They were pretty darn cute with their red, tubby bodies and stubby legs. Each had a big collar and a striped pattern on their stomach that reminded me of the tuxedo Eric wore for Uncle Mike and Aunt Jess’s wedding. But the most impressive parts of their ensemble were the ash gray antennae that sprouted from their heads and curled up at the ends.

To show I came in peace, I reached out a hand and they quickly huddled together, one falling down and having to use its antenna for leverage to get back up with its friend’s help. Their panicked chirping broke Professor Dallon from her phone call..

“Don’t scare them,” said the woman who menacingly loomed over them before I got here.

“I was just trying to say hello,” I said.

“Kricketot are very young and don’t communicate well with gestures. They respond a lot better to sounds, particularly melodies or songs.”

I nodded and she returned to her call.

“Helloooooo,” I sang, putting my grade school chorus lessons to good use.

They looked at me like I just threatened to set them on fire. I cleared my throat.

“How are yoooouuuu?” I asked, going for a higher pitch this time.

A Magnemite interrupted my serenade, expression stern. It spun the magnet on its right side, gesturing for me to grab a device stuck to it. I worried that the blur of red and blue was moving so fast it’d take my hand clean off but the Magnemite slowed down as I reached out. With some effort, I pulled what looked like a kitchen timer from its clutches. This Magnemite didn’t have to be told to go back to its boss, leaving me with the circular thing.

“Turn the top to the second dial and then let it play for them,” Professor Dallon said, Nico spinning the phone so whoever was on the other end didn’t hear her talking to me.

It was pretty hefty in my palm and I twisted the two halves so that the arrow on the top lined up with the two on the bottom. After letting go, it started ticking down and I held it away from me and towards the trio of tater tot bugs. If it released some fumigation cloud that knocked them out, I didn’t want to be on the receiving end too.

I shut my eyes at the same time the ticking stopped. Instead of a cloud of poison, beautiful music spilled out. The Kricketot perked up, antennae twitching as a soothing violin played from the little device. The music trailed off and the device reset, ready for another go around.

“Should I play it again?”

“After them,” Professor Dallon said, still focused on her tech.

Before I could ask what she meant, the Kricketot in the center knocked its two antennae together. On contact, they made a sound not too different from lightly tapping a piano key. Each time they collided together, a different note was hit and the Kricketot was able to hit them against each other really quickly considering their size.

The two Kricketot next to the one on center stage joined in, each filling the gaps in the first’s rhythm until a melody formed. A soothing feeling washed over me as I listened, their tune mimicking the one that had just played. No, more than just copying. They were adding to it. The one on the right softly rubbed its antennae together, like two cymbals brushing against the other.

A calm ran through me, nostalgia from my time trying to learn piano colliding with the joy from when I’d listened to Flight of the Vespiquen for a month straight. I’d quit piano about a month after I started, telling my dad it was too hard when in reality I just didn’t want to put the work in. I loved music, but that interest bitterly faded once I quit lessons. The Kricketot’s music kicked up the dust that settled from my past failure, but the memories were anything but bitter now. The sounds were sweet and warm and I didn’t even really realize the effect they were having on me until the music stopped. I blinked a few times, getting out of my trance as Professor Dallon made her way over. 

With their performance over and her on the way, the Kricketot scurried behind my legs to put me between them and her. 

“I was going to wait until my assistant got here, but she’s lost and will meet us there,” she said. 

I understood the whole professionalism thing, but referring to Victoria as her assistant even though it was just the two of us here felt weird. Was I supposed to call her Assistant Dallon when she showed up? Wait, was I technically Assistant Pelham right now? That sounded pretty badass, honestly. 

A Magnemite yanked the music player from my hand, pulling me from my thoughts. 

“Meet us where?” I asked, trying to prove that I actually was paying attention.

“That’s most of the problem,” she said, still typing on the computer. She gave Vardy a loop motion with her finger and the Magnemite propping up the computer spun around so I could see the screen. It was a map of Shinespright Wood, with three red dots at set points and shaded circles around them. “I’ll try to keep it brief considering you’ve never been too keen of my work.”

I winced. She’d said it so matter of factly that it didn’t register as a jab at first. Unlike Victoria, I wasn’t a nerd and neither was anyone else in my family except maybe Eric. So whenever Aunt Carol launched into evolutionary methods or how environments impacted the defenses of pokemon when we were all just trying to enjoy a movie or dinner, I usually dozed off or dipped out.

“You can be un-brief, if you want,” I said, feeling kind of bad for blowing her off in the past.

“A few months back, I got reports about a strange, soothing song coming from within Shinespright Wood,” she said. “I’ve been trying to track down the source and the shaded areas on that map are where we think it’s coming from.”

“You can’t just follow the noise?” I asked, a little unsure why all of this couldn’t be solved with a bunch of cameras.

“It’s trickier than it sounds,” she said. “The Kricketot and Kricketune seem to be the most receptive to the sound and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of them also live in those shaded areas.”

I looked at the map again, a logo of a Magnemite eye with lightning instead of a pupil blinked in the center of the screen to mark where we were. It was dead in the center between the three points, equally far from each shaded area.

“You kidnapped them?” I asked, looking down at the frightened Kricketot.

“Lured is probably a better term,” she said, unfazed for the most part. 

That explained the music player. 

“So what now, we just wait for the forest to start singing and they’ll lead us to it?”

“That’s my current theory, yes,” she said. “If what I’m thinking is correct, then this will be a big step forward in my research.”

I didn’t bite on her bait for me to ask about what she was thinking. She continued anyway.

“Although my work as professor in this region covers many topics, my expertise is in pokemon behavior and evolution,” she explained. “Across all regions, no pokemon evolves more than twice and no one has been able to figure out why. In fact, hardly anyone even asks why.”

“Okay.”

“The relationship between pokemon and humans is well researched and looked into and it makes sense that pokemon mostly evolve through that relationship, particularly though battling. The running theory is that battling is the best way to increase the bond between a pokemon and trainer.”

I thought back to my battle with Laserdream, that shared look we had after giving it our all. 

“I think I know what you mean.”

She smiled.

“I’m not against battling, even if your mother and I disagree from time to time. It’s important and the pokemon love it. But what are pokemon like without that human interference? Could they evolve from methods other than battling? Across the board, most evolutions will feature better ways to attack or defend. Bigger claws, tougher armor, more effective ways to do what the trainer needs it to do. If we were to remove the trainer or the battling, how would pokemon evolve?"

She lifted her hands to gesture towards the trees around us in the clearing. Like a mirror, her Magnemite lifted their magnets as well. 

“Listen to this forest, the sounds of every single pokemon in it trying to communicate at once.”

Once I focused on the white noise, it became so much louder, the various chirps and buzzing hard to specifically make out on their own. 

“Kricketune have perhaps the most unique method of communication in the pokemon world, but even in this forest that gets drowned out. Did you know that Kricketot are less and less common in this forest due to the lack of mating between Kricketune?”

I blinked twice before shaking my head.

“I don’t really follow bug mating,”

“That’s a shame, it’s enlightening,” she said. “The mating ritual between Kricketune involves the male playing a song for the female. Every single song is unique to the male playing it, but in a forest as loud as this, a lot of those songs go completely unheard.”

“Awww,” I said, looking down at the little Kricketot clinging to my shins.

“Aw indeed,” she said. “I believe that the forest’s song comes from a Kricketune that evolved to its third stage in order to stand out in this echo chamber. It would be an entirely new discovery as, even in its native region, Kricketot evolves to Kricketune and no further.”

“Interesting,” I said, genuinely meaning it. Discovering a new pokemon sounded really freaking cool, even if it was only because a bug couldn’t find a horizontal dance partner.

“If true, this could mean that every single pokemon is capable of evolving twice so long as the conditions are met. Magnemite, for instance, were thought to only evolve once for thousands of years until researches saw evolved forms in a mountain with a unique magnetic field far away from here. This world has so much left to uncover.”

She sounded equal parts logical and mad scientist as Vardy abruptly turned the computer back towards her. I felt the Kricketot pull away from me before I heard the sound. There was no way this was one single pokemon as the music hushed every other noise in the forest. Only it played, a complex orchestra unlike anything I had ever heard coming from every direction.

Professor Dallon handed me a small pair of ear plugs designed with her Magnemite logo. As I put them in, I barely heard her words as she and her Magnemite storm followed the Kricketot towards the edge of the clearing.

“Let’s make history.”


	8. Chapter 8

Even with earplugs in, the music that flowed through the forest was distracting. Not because of the volume though. The song sent waves of calm and bliss that crashed over me before settling in my chest. It wasn’t intense enough to make me cry or anything, but it made focusing on each footstep in the tall grass difficult.

Just thinking about it made the feeling sit heavier in my heart, which only made me think about it more. At least they were good feelings, I thought, carefully stepping over the thick root of a tree. The song gave me warm fuzzies that started to rise from my chest to the base of my throat to the point that I wanted to sing them out. I opted for humming instead, following along to the constantly changing rhythm as well as I could. 

Professor Dallon didn’t seem too afflicted, walking with purpose behind the trio of Kricketot. The grass hid their bodies, but their gray antennae stuck out to help us keep track of where they were headed as the forest got denser. While I struggled to keep one foot in front of the other, she continued her rapid-fire typing without so much as stumbling. Maybe she had built up an immunity of sorts after spending so much time in Shinespright Wood. 

That was a more comfortable reason than the alternative. Cold wasn’t exactly the right word to describe her, but Aunt Carol wasn’t exactly the type to express the feelings this song gave me. While each note seemed to grab my heart by the strings and pluck away, I imagined her heart was more like a gong. From the stories Victoria had told me, it took effort to lift up that heavy mallet and hit Aunt Carol in the feels hard enough to get a response. If a daughter desperate for her approval couldn’t manage to get an emotional response, then I shouldn’t be too surprised that a random pokemon couldn’t.

I was being unfair, probably. Every family was different. I knew Aunt Carol loved Victoria, it just sucked seeing my best friend get disappointed over and over again. Everything had to be earned with Aunt Carol. Respect, trust, love. What was I earning right now following her in a forest beyond itchy shins?

What is it that you’re wanting, Crystal?

The jury was still out on Mom’s question from last night. I’d been working on it for most of the day since it would be asked again later tonight, but no answer really felt true. I wanted to see the region and meet new people and pokemon, but didn’t everyone? Was it something I actually felt compelled to do or was it something I just figured I should be doing? I grew up in a family of people who had devoted their lives to pokemon and that just felt like the natural progression for me as well. Even Mark had gone on a journey back in the day. 

I looked ahead at the woman who rose to the absolute top in her field to become a professor. She probably didn’t know it, but I admired the hell out of her. She had never been the cool aunt seen on tv that would buy me purple eyeshadow or tell me the embarrassing stories from when she, Mom, and Uncle Mike grew up together. This past christmas she got me a gift card with four different restaurant options on it, because narrowing it down to just one would make it less valuable apparently. Still, she was driven. She knew what she wanted and she went out of her way to get it. It was a Dallon thing, Victoria fairly similar in that regard. 

I walked straight into a Magnemite, too caught up in my own head to realize Professor Dallon had stopped. There was a loud “bzzt” and the Magnemite quickly spun around. I could only tell it was Nico because it showed genuine concern for my well being by checking my shoulder where I ran into it. I was fine other than a small nick from a screw. Damage assessed, it hurried over to the two Magnemite hovering above the Kricketot that were still waddling ahead. I tapped Professor Dallon on the shoulder.

“Everything good?” I asked.

“Yes!” she shouted, overcompensating for the ear plugs. Her voice was loud enough that birds on the branches above us flew away. “My assistant managed to beat us there so we can head straight over!”

Vardy showed me the computer, a new pin dropped on the map. It wasn’t too far from us, if I was reading it correctly, but it looked like it was to our left while the Kricketot kept leading us forward.

The forest looked thicker to our left too, branches and vines we would have to weave between to reach the source of the music.

“They seem to know where they’re going,” I said, nodding towards our pint-sized guides.

“They do! But so do we now!”

It felt wrong to just leave them, even if we were just using them as compasses to point us in the right direction. They were little and this forest was big, I hoped they made it to wherever we were all headed. 

“Ingrid! Maxwell!” she yelled out to the two Magnemite with the Kricketot, Nico right beside them. “To me!”

The pair shot over to us like bullets, Nico following before stopping to look at the Kricketot and then back at us. The Kricketot continued their march, oblivious that we were no longer behind them, and Nico came back over.

Nico got close to me, waggling a magnet with a small, metal tin in its clutches. I nearly dropped the tin trying to pull it away, but I managed to open the little clasp. It was a tiny first aid kit, with bandages, pain meds, and a small tube of ointment packed inside.

“Aww thanks, buddy,” I said, pulling a bandage free.

Nico whirred and waited for me to dress up the small cut on my arm before heading back to Professor Dallon, who was sticking large knives onto Ingrid and Maxwell. She stepped back a foot, which made me step back five.

The weaponized Magnemite started to spin their magnets, the blades becoming like a blender as they moved towards the vines that blocked our shortcut. Even the thinner branches were cut like butter as the knives cleared the way. 

Professor Dallon followed them deeper into the forest. I kept up as best as I could, the song still playing but not distracting me nearly as much as the living buzzsaws carving out a tunnel for us. 

We had to stop a few times as the cut branches became more of a hindrance to step over than they were in the first place. I peeked at Professor Dallon’s map and we were getting closer to the blinking marker on the screen. So why did the song sound quieter here? 

Actually, everything was quieter. There weren’t birds flying overhead or pokemon tanning in the sun, even though more than enough sunlight lit up the area. The further we went, the less things got in our way. I felt uneasy, but that might have just been side effects from the song not affecting me as strongly.

I noticed my shoe was untied and as I went down to correct it I froze. I could see my shoes, the grass not even reaching my ankles when it had been scratching my knees before.

A scream like metal claws raking through a chalkboard tore through the air and Ingrid was sent flying over my head. I darted up, ears ringing. A green blur moved too fast for me to make out what it was and suddenly Mac was hurtling through the air as well, hitting a tree before falling to the ground. 

“Get back!” Professor Dallon said.

I ducked back down and reached for my bag, adrenaline making me fumble with the zipper.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Scyther,” she said, no longer shouting. “Territorial, fast, dangerous. Whatever you’re about to pull out of your bag, don’t.”

I zipped my bag back up, frustrated that I couldn’t bring Laserdream out to help. Maybe that was for the best, considering just how easily Professor Dallon’s Magnemite were dealt with.

“Vardy, go to her and stay there. Nico and Lumi, to me,” she said, calmly giving out orders. She had five Magnemite and two of them had already been knocked out of commission. Make that three, as the green blur struck Lumi down out of the air. It was impossibly fast, but I got a better look at it before it dove back behind a tree.

Its arms were bladed from armpit to fingertip, and it was fairly tall with a green body that blended fine hairs with armor.

“Scyther, Pinsir, Kricketune, and Lurantis all have a sort of rivalry in this forest. This one is likely agitated due to the loud music in its backyard.”

“Or maybe it’s agitated that we were carving through its living room.”

“Possibly. Either way, we shouldn’t fight it,” she said, putting her hands up in the air.

Vardy, still hauling her computer, reached me. The map was still pulled up and it looked like we only had a hundred or so feet left before we reached the source of the singing. But if she said Kricketune was similar to Scyther, then there was no guarantee that we wouldn’t get our butts kicked for trespassing there either. 

“We could go back the way we came and try catching up to the Kricketot,” I said, searching for a solution. “It’d be taking the long way around, but I’d prefer the scenic route over getting cut in half.”

“Just stay still. Running away or abrupt movements are a good way to get attacked,” she said. “It runs things here and probably prides itself on being the fastest and sharpest thing in this forest.”

“So what are we going to do? Play dead?”

“No, but we’re not going to fight it either. Not everything has to be solved with a battle,” she said, liberally taking a jab at my mom.

I wanted to chirp back, but the Scyther came into view. It was nearly as tall as we were, arms long enough that they scraped the ground as it stalked over to us. Nico looked terrified but got between it and Professor Dallon. 

Scyther raised an arm up, aiming it at poor Nico. It cocked its head and did a “bring it” motion with its sword arm. We didn’t take the bait as the song continued to fill the air. There was an unsettling calm that it brought me, filling me with bliss that felt wrong in the tense moment. Scyther seemed irritated though as the music reached a quicker tempo. 

It lunged straight for them, insectile wings flapping and arms outstretched. Nico moved to intercept and was batted down to the ground. Professor Dallon didn’t move, hands still up in the air as Scyther’s formed an X inches away from her throat.

“We’re just passing through,” she said. “Sorry for the disturbance.”

Scyther didn’t budge, instead sliding the blades against each other to create a screeching sound that made me cover my ears.

“Yes, it’s rather annoying,” she said.

There was another scrape, harsher than before. Did she just roll her eyes?

“I’ll see what I can do.”

The sharp noise ceased as Scyther withdrew, looking over at me and Vardy. Before I could decide whether or not I should speak up or stay quiet, it stalked off. I waited until it was out of sight before standing up, tossing my bag back over my shoulder. Professor Dallon walked over to where Nico landed, showing no weakness in her knees nor swagger in her step. Like it was just another day at work.

“Okay, that was ama-”

“When I tell you to stay still, stay still!” she shouted.

For a second, I thought she was talking to me. Instead, she was leaning over Nico in the grass, hands on her hips and shaking her head.

“Get up and collect what was knocked loose,” she told it.

“It was just trying to protect you,” I said.

“Staying still would’ve protected me more than blindly rushing forward,” she said.

I didn’t get it. I mean, I understood the words and why she believed that. The others had been knocked aside when moving around so staying still made sense, but that wasn’t their fault. I clenched my fists as she continued to scold Nico for being brave and trying to help.

The melody carried through the forest and it made me relax. Maybe it was affecting her too. This could’ve just been a poor attempt at tough love and training. Every family was different, I reminded myself.

Nico rose up, shaking off some dirt on its magnets before flying low and picking up the little trinkets that fell off. Vardy was already gone from my side and near hers, showing her the map.

“Ingrid. Mac. Lumi. If you can follow, follow,” Professor Dallon said, walking ahead. 

All three of the Magnemite made a buzzing sound and got up from where they were smacked down. I went to Nico, putting a hand on top of its metal head. Body? No, definitely its head. There was a small scratch on its right side between eye and screw.

“I’m sorry you got hurt,” I said. “It’s probably not my place to say it since I’m not your trainer, but I know you were just trying to do your best in a scary situation.”

I reached into my pocket, pulling out the miniature first aid kit and retrieving a bandage from it. Nico held still while I stuck it on the scratch. Even though I was sure it didn’t actually do anything, Nico seemed relieved. It rubbed a magnet against the fabric of my shirt, causing a crackle of static, before zipping away after Professor Dallon. I hurried along as well, wary that the Scyther would make a return if I was isolated.

It didn’t take long for us to reach some pretty thick bushes that blocked our way forward. Grabbing the knife herself this time, Professor Dallon chopped away until there was a narrow gap to squeeze through. She sent a Magnemite first and when it came back she stepped through the gap. Nico, Vardy, and the others followed suit, leaving just me on the other side.

I took my backpack off, passing it through. I wasn’t about to have it snag and then be stuck in some bramble. Professor Dallon’s hand reached out for me and I grabbed it, ducking low and trying my best to avoid scraping skin against thorns. I came out the other side unscathed and my sigh of relief turned into a gasp. 

It was like stepping out of a forest and into a wonderland, sun shining down on a field of pastel flowers. The area was framed by walls of bushes like the one we had just cut through. The pokemon behind Shinespright Wood’s song was in the center of the clearing, a swarm of Kricketot and what must’ve been Kricketune around it. 

It was still the same brick red as the others, but it carried a lot more bulk, especially in its right arm. That arm was shaped like a shield, narrow at the ends but wide in the middle with tan and gray lines overlapping like notes on a music sheet. Its left arm was skinnier like a spear, with circular joints allowing it to bend at severe angles to play the shield arm like an instrument. 

As the music played, I crept closer to get a better look. The wings on its back were unfurled and pointed up and its antennae had round ends that banged the raised wings like a drum. Each time the antennae struck the wing, I felt the vibration run through my bones. Pokemon of so many different types were here, flying in the air or relaxing in the sun.

As I got closer, I saw a girl with a mass of black, curly hair sitting on a log covered in moss. A Kricketot sat on the log beside her and it noticed me before she did, pushing against her left side like I had scared it. 

She turned my way and she either had really big eyes or really small glasses on. The girl was swimming in a brown hoodie and her jeans had a tear at the knee that I didn’t think was by design. After a few moments studying me in turn, her mouth stretched into a wide smile.

“Hi,” she said. “You must be Professor Dallon’s niece.”

“Yeah, Crystal,” I said, stretching a hand out and hoping it wasn’t too sweaty.

She twisted around to reach over the Kricketot and grab my hand, skipping the shaking part and letting go quickly. 

“She’s probably going to insist you call me Assistant Hebert, but...” she trailed off, not meeting my eyes for whatever reason. “Just Taylor is fine.”


	9. Chapter 9

“What about something related to music? Like an orchestra or symphony?” Taylor said.

“Possibly,” Professor Dallon said. “Although Krickorchestra is a bit of a jumble.”

“True,” Taylor said, eyes downcast.

“I could divert from the prefix entirely, given how different this evolution seems to be.”

I felt out of place, listening to the two of them talk shop. Professor Dallon was almost bouncing in place as she spoke, oblivious to my existence as she talked past me to her assistant. I thought about weighing in with some name ideas myself, but I’d probably just be getting in the way. 

Meanwhile, Taylor already looked steamrolled in this conversation, which didn’t surprise me to be honest. If her Magnemite were any indication, Professor Dallon surrounded herself with assistants who’d bend under her will. I’d seen maybe five minutes of this girl and there was no signs of pushback yet. When Professor Dallon bounced ideas off someone, it was less like ping-pong and more like baseball. There was hardly a back and forth, just slow pitches until she managed to knock it out of the park.

“Krickerockstar?” I joked.

Taylor gave the slightest of smiles, swiping curly hair from where it fell in front of her glasses. Professor Dallon was less amused.

“Too close to Krokorok,” she said, either trying to dismiss it as quickly as possible or thinking I was actually serious.

She still showed zero signs of the song affecting her, even with it closer than ever. The three of us were standing in front of the swarm of bug pokemon that revelled around.

“I’m going to get some photos and record some cries,” Professor Dallon said. “Stay safe and don’t get too close to the new pokemon. We’re guests to the performance, but that may change if we become nuisances.”

Rich coming from the woman about to go full paparazzi on them. Taylor only nodded before sitting back down on the log, her shoulders relaxing a bit as Professor Dallon walked off with her Magnemite hurricane. 

“She must be a tough boss,” I said, sitting down beside her.

“She’s…” Taylor hesitated as if I was going to report what she said back to Professor Dallon or something. “Yeah.”

“At least the pay must be good, working for the region’s professor and everything.”

“Oh, uhm, I don’t get paid. It’s volunteer work.”

“You volunteer to be bossed around?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“It has perks!” she said, turning to face me. I was surprised by the outburst, but she seemed to be too, looking back down at the ground and pushing up her glasses. “Professor Dallon is brilliant and learning under her is a reward in itself.”

“Sounds like you need a better agent,” I said. “I could talk to her if you want, put in a good word.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“Not in the slightest,” I said, flashing a smile. “But you seem cool.”

Again, she looked away from me. I couldn’t get a good read on her at all. It was like she was shy enough that even eye contact was too much of an engagement for her. But there had to be some level of passion from her if she was willing to come all the way out here just to get talked over by Aunt Carol. 

“Do you want to see my pokemon?” I asked

She met my gaze again, a spark in her eyes I didn’t miss.

“Sure.”

I pulled my backpack off my shoulders and took Laserdream’s poke ball from the front pocket. There was a heat from the ball as I palmed it, probably just from being in my bag all day. I gave it a light toss and it rolled on the grass before the red light spilled out and took the shape of Laserdream.

The furball was still sleeping from this morning, her body curled up on the grass. It didn’t take long for the loud noises and sunlight to rouse her awake. She stretched her forelegs and then did a full body shake before looking up at me with that fanged smile.

“Shinx!” Laserdream yipped, a greeting of sorts I guess.

“Good morning!” I said. “To catch you up to speed, we’re in a forest and found that singing bug over there. Also, this is Taylor!”

I gestured towards Taylor, who gave a small wave and leaned forward.

“Hey there,” Taylor said, reaching down to scratch behind her ears. “It must run in the family, huh?”

“What does?”

“The love for electric types,” she continued. 

“Ah,” I said, unable to admit I thought she was referring to Laserdream and I. “Yeah, I actually just got Laserdream yesterday from my parents.”

“Oh, your mom’s the new gym leader right?”

I nodded.

“Yeah we just moved here from Bet, still finding our footing though. You should visit! Dad has electric types if you like them too.”

“I think I kind of have to like them, working for the Professor and everything.”

“I plan on catching all different types once I go on my journey.”

Taylor’s eyes went wide for a moment before her expression settled into a smile.

“That must run in the family too.”

Laserdream whined as Taylor stopped petting her. I patted the spot on the log between Taylor and me, but she decided the grass was more comfortable, turning a stretch into a resting position. The music didn’t seem to be bothering her, which was good I guess. 

“What about you?” I asked her, leaning back and tilting my head up to catch more of the sun.

“I could never go on a journey like you two…” she trailed off. “No, I’m fine where I’m at helping the professor. Maybe someday, but not now.”

I didn’t believe her and I wasn’t sure if that was because I’d spent most of the day dreaming about an adventure or if it was just because of the way she stared at the ground while she said it. Maybe it was the truth. Even though I didn’t see much benefit in sweating all day with Aunt Carol, she did get to study and see a lot of pokemon.

“Do you have any pokemon? Is that one yours?” I asked, pointing at the Kricketot I saw her with when I first walked up. It had since retreated to the edge of the log farthest from us rather than nuzzling up against Taylor.

“No, I mean yes, I have a pokemon that the Professor gave me, but that Kricketot just sort of followed me around once I got in the forest.”

“Funny, we followed some on the way here. But they all seem scared of me for some reason.”

“Umm... they tend to have really sensitive antennae.”

“So, I’ve gathered.”

“And, well, they don’t like loud noises or quick movements.”

I laughed, only proving her point but I couldn’t help it. Behind all that hair was a sense of humor.

“You can call me annoying, there’s no need to beat around the bush. I know I can be a bit much sometimes.”

“I don’t think you’re annoying…”

“Well, I appreciate that, now are you gonna keep staring at the dirt or are you going to show me your pokemon?”

She smiled and made a sound somewhere between a Rattata chittering and calling for a Skitty. Her hair shook and I nearly jumped as a tiny, yellow blur darted out and landed on Taylor’s shoulder. It was smaller than my fist, with blue eyes and a mouth that looked like furry pincers. Four eyes actually, a pair in the middle of the big ones blinking up at me.

“This is my Joltik,” Taylor said, cool as can be.

The Joltik made a squeaking noise, raising front legs up so fast I couldn’t track it. Okay, maybe it was kind of cute. Laserdream perked up too, getting up to get a better look. She bounded over, leaning up against the log. The Joltik hopped back into Taylor’s hair, the yellow still peeking out.

“He’s a little shy,” Taylor explained.

“Does he have a name?” I asked, leaning closer to her. 

Taylor shook her head and Joltik hid further from me in the curly jungle. I could still see him blink at me and wiggle mandibles. “Sorry, I’ve never seen a Joltik before.”

“Really? The Professor’s lab had an infestation with about a hundred in the basement and we cleared out most of them but there are still a dozen or so and for helping she let me have one that I caught and…” she trailed off, the excitement turning into into another downcast look and adjustment of her glasses. “Sorry, I’m realizing you just showed up here like a day ago and probably don’t care.”

I pinched her arm, my fingers mostly catching that thick hoodie.

“That’s for apologizing. My Mom says it’s a bad habit.”

She rubbed her arm, but was sporting a smile.

“Sorry, I just-” I pressed my fingers together as a threat and she caught herself. “I don’t talk much.”

“We’ll work on that.”

“What?”

Maybe the music was making it hard for her to hear.

“We’ll work on it,” I repeated. “If you want, of course. I’d love to hear more about how Auntie C was up to her neck in Joltik or any other stories. Like I said, you’re cool.”

“Uh, you’re cool too,” Taylor said. “You’re really easy to talk to and-”

“Oh my god!” 

I stood up, jumping on top of the log to get a better look behind us while Taylor reeled.

“Wh-What is it?” she asked, turning around.

Sure enough, it was them.

“It’s the Kricketot that led us here. We split ways on the way over,” I told her. I started running over to them, Laserdream at my heels. “Hey, guys! I was so worried about you the whole way here.”

They were coming out of the tall grass in a huddle, saw me, and then frantically turned around to go back the way they came from. Right, a bit much. I slowed my roll as I got closer, Laserdream taking the cue and not tackling them. She still made a loud growling sound though, getting between me and then. The Kricketot reacted, knocking antennae together for a song that blended with the one being played.

“Dream, take it easy. They’re cool,” I told her. 

She kept growling, front half getting low to the ground and body flashing yellow. The Kricketot didn’t back down either, continuing their singing. There was a beeping from behind me and then beautiful singing, a feminine voice that drowned out the Kricketot and even made the music from the Krickerockstar die down. Every pokemon around stopped what it was doing and stared in awe at Taylor.

She wasn’t singing. Taylor held some bright red phone with a blinking blue light up in the air, a song playing. It wasn’t anything I’d ever heard before and sounded tinny. Her Joltik hopped out of her hair and crawled up her arm, clinging to her wrist for a front row seat. 

The Kricketot trio stopped, swaying back and forth in their huddle. Laserdream was calming down too and I slowly picked her up, petting fur that stood on end.

“I step away for five minutes and you two cause a scene,” Aunt Carol said. And it was very Aunt Carol instead of Professor Dallon, her tone and the way she was stalking over a mirror match to her signature scolding routine. “Why are your pokemon out? We don’t know what this pokemon is capable of just yet.”

“Sorry,” Taylor said before I could respond. I shot her a look and she winced. “Er, not sorry.”

Aunt Carol crossed her arms. Joltik decided now was the time to dive back into Taylor’s hair and I didn’t blame him. Taylor reached up and slowly cranked a dial on the phone thing, the volume dying down and the pokemon around them going back to their routines. 

“It was my idea, we-” I started.

“I’m not sorry we had our pokemon out. We were getting to know each other,” Taylor said, talking over me. “You always say pokemon are extensions of us, a bridge that lets us connect with one another and the world around us. Crystal and I were connecting.”

Professor Dallon sighed and let the words hang there, as if baiting one of us to say something incriminating. Or letting the words sink in, I really had no idea. She had chosen Taylor as an assistant for reasons beyond free labor.

“Fine,” she said. “You both are safe and that’s what matters. And more field testing for the Cry Capture function is useful at least.”

I blinked. The what?

“I know you said it was for emergencies, but-” Taylor said before getting cut off.

“Don’t worry about it,” Professor Dallon said, more of a command than anything comforting. “The Krickestra’s song was starting to give me a headache anyway and it looks like it’s taking a break. Or stopping. Not sure. I got what I needed.”

I looked over at the one-man-band pokemon. It was lounging on its back, idly scratching its shield arm with its spear arm while the other pokemon frolicked around it. Professor Dallon’s Magnemite flew around it in the air, snapping photos and taking scans.

“Krickestra,” Taylor said.

“Tentatively, yeah. You were on the right track with orchestras given the union and coordination involved. We’ll run it up the flagpole, see what sticks.”

“Thanks.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Taylor admitted.

“Okay.” 

Professor Dallon walked over to me, joining my hand in petting Laserdream. Taylor folded the device and tucked it back in her hoodie pocket.

“So this is the hellraiser.”

“She was caught up in the moment.”

“She was protecting you, getting between the unknown and you,” she said, scratching behind her ears the same way Taylor did. “Not hard to believe considering how quickly they can attach to others, but still a powerful bond you two seem to already share.”

She pulled off and looked me in the eyes with a rare smile.

“In the wild Shinx’s line are pack pokemon. They group up and lean on one another when they need to,” she said. “As a trainer, you need to be firm with her. If you think she needs to stand down, tell her to stand down and  _ mean it.  _ I’m not saying become some alpha whatever, but understand that you’re the closest thing she has to a pack right now. Trained pokemon are usually stronger than their wild counterparts and while the studies are up in the air as to why, the fact remains true.”

“I think it goes both ways. I think we’re stronger with them than without them,” I said.

“Me too,” she said, looking over at the orbiting Magnemite. 

She called Vardy over with a whistle. It flew over, computer in tow. She typed and Taylor’s phone buzzed.

“We’re pulling out. Taylor, take Crystal into Aquilar Town and get the items I sent and bring them back to the lab. Show her around but don’t take forever.”

“Sure thing,” Taylor said, checking her phone for the info.

Hopefully that included a map, considering this forest had a green ninja with scythes for arms creeping around. Taylor led the way as we left, happy to be out of the sun and in the shade. Taylor’s Joltik peeked out of Taylor’s hair from behind her, blinking at Laserdream and me. It was far from all bad in this forest though, watching Taylor and her cute, pint-size pokemon walk ahead.

  
  
  
  



	10. Chapter 10

I just could not avoid the sun whatsoever. Aquilar Town had only been a fifteen minute walk once we got out of the forest, but I could already feel a sunburn coming on. My relief when Taylor said the market was indoors was short lived once we reached town. The market was impossible to miss, red brick walls stretching higher than the moss covered roofs of houses and other buildings nearby. The top of the market was all glass though, dark red beams arching from one side of the building to the other with the glass panes in between. 

It felt like my first time here, even though I’d visited Victoria dozens of times in the past. Aquilar Market was new and so was the buzz that seemed to fill the city now, people coming and going down the street as Taylor and I made our way closer.

“Do you live around here?” I asked.

“Not this close to the market, no,” Taylor said. “These streets are like spokes on a wheel, with the market in the center and neighborhoods at the end of each spoke.”

I nodded, trying to picture it in my head. We reached the courtyard, cobblestone and street lamps forming a perimeter around the market. Taylor stopped and pointed down one of the streets to the right, the opposite direction from where Crystal knew the lab and Victoria’s house was.

“I live down that way. I’d show you, but it’s a bit of a walk,” Taylor said.

“All’s good, maybe some other time?”

“Maybe.”

Silence followed as Taylor led them to the market entrance. When Dad mentioned he and Eric visited this morning, I imagined a quiet, dusty flea market. We weren’t even inside yet and there were people setting up shop outside along the pathway. We walked past a bearded guy and his Cubone drumming on some buckets, some people dropping a few bills in a hat in front of them. There was a surprising amount of pokemon out and about with their trainers actually. 

A woman with a massive pokemon I didn’t recognize perched on her shoulders walked past us and I couldn’t but stare. Its feathers were a midnight blue, with red plumage on the tail, but the most impressive part was what looked like a big hat on its head. The woman kept walking, but the pokemon matched my gaze, craning its neck and puffing out its chest as it maintained eye contact with piercing red eyes. Laserdream barked in my arms, not to help in the staring contest but to get my attention as I almost walked straight into a street lamp. I avoided it and the pokemon half-squawked, half-cackled, turning back around on its trainer’s shoulder.

“You okay?” Taylor said, noticing that I was lagging behind. I did a little jog to catch up.

“Yeah, just saw a really cool pokemon,” I said. “Is it always this busy?”

“On the weekends, yeah. People from Nova Cassio come by on their off days for some of the items that are too expensive in the city itself. Just hold onto Laserdream once we get inside.”

“Are there pokesnatchers?” I asked, clutching Laserdream a little tighter.

“What? No, that’s only a thing in the movies. You got her yesterday right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m guessing she’s not exactly familiar with crowds. Aquilar Market can be… a lot,” Taylor said, getting closer and scratching Laserdream behind the ears again. “You should probably keep her outside of her ball though, it’ll help her get used to being around other pokemon without feeling the need to protect you from them.”

“Is there something I’m missing about why you and the Professor keep scratching behind her ears?” I asked. From experience with Uncle Mike’s Pikachu, I knew firsthand that electric types could be a little temperamental about where they were touched.

“Oh, not really. Her ears are just really big, so it looks like it’s hard for her to scratch behind them herself.”

I investigated and her blue ears were pretty massive. She looked pleased though, leaning into Taylor’s scratching.

With that, we made our way inside, the doors opening automatically for us. Cool air blew my hair all over the place and I wasn’t even upset about it, letting my body get a breather. The entrance was like a food court of sorts, people and pokemon sitting at tables and benches with trays of food. Taylor moved with purpose though, phone out with the list of items we were supposed to be getting. 

I found myself smiling, taking it all in. There were so many pokemon I just didn’t even know existed and here they were just casually walking and flying around with their trainers.

The sun kept everything well lit, making it easy to see the wares and shops at each stand as we walked down the main aisle. So much of it was food and drinks, each specializing in one specific thing rather than having a wide selection.

“Moomoo milk?” a woman said, jumping from in front of a stand to in front of us, two bottles of milk in hand. “All-natural, all-organic, and super refreshing.”

“Uhm, no thanks,” I said.

She made a pouty face and put her hands on her hips. Hooves actually, considering the costume she was in. It was a pink maid outfit with a yellow apron, and small horns poked out of long black hair.

“Maybe on the way back after we’re done shopping,” Taylor said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the weirdo and back down the aisle. “Sorry, they can be a little persistent.”

I looked back at the milk girl and she was already working on someone else, shoving bottles this way and that. Everyone was busy, whether that was buying, selling, or just getting out of the way. A man with a Delibird was selling items out of the pokemon’s bag like a sweepstake, the customer looking disappointed with what she got while another was already trying to take her place.

We turned a corner and I could smell the difference. Berries surrounded us, the sweetness filling my nostrils as Taylor slowed down and searched the offerings. I saw where Dad must’ve gotten the bluk berries, bundles upon bundles of them hanging from one of the stands. My stomach growled loudly enough that Laserdream looked up at me. 

I rubbed her head and she eased, staying still in my arms. Laserdream surprised me a bit by not wanting to get down, instead using the higher vantage point to get a look around. There was another one of those big hat birds, this time on top of a guy’s hat, which looked like a match to the one the pokemon had. The guy’s whole outfit seemed to be styled after the pokemon, with a matching suit even though it was a thousand degrees outside. It made me wonder. 

“Do you think they have blue shirts here?” I asked Taylor, only to realize she wasn’t right next to me. I spotted the mass of curly hair at a table and scurried on over.

“Sorry, I don’t have any,” the vendor said.

“Do you know anyone who might?” Taylor asked.

The berries he had were strange looking to say the least, some looking like they were peeled from the inside out while others twisted up their own stems.

“Hey, Mickey!” he called out across the aisle. A tall man, bent down to be seen under his stand’s awning.

“Shuca berries?” the weird berry guy asked. No one passing by seemed to care, continuing with their days. Mickey looked down at the small purple pokemon with a serious cowlick who was giving a box of berries to a woman with one hand and taking money with the other. Not its other hand, I realized as it turned around to look up at the guy. It had a long tail that ended in a big hand. 

Words were exchanged and the pokemon hopped around the stand, using its tail to prop itself up. It grabbed a box and lifted it up, dancing around.

“Plenty!” Mickey called back. Our guy gave him a thumbs up.

“My brother’s a good guy, he’ll hook you up,” he said. 

“Thanks,” Taylor said.

We waited for a pair of Butterfree to flutter by and made our way across the aisle.

“I like your pokemon,” I said once we got close enough. He sat down on a chair he had a chair behind the table.

“Thanks, say hi, Manny,” the guy said, poking his Pokémon in the back and holding his palm out. It offloaded the box of berries into his hand and stretched its tail out to me with a toothy smile. The hand on the end was round and plump, with three round “fingers.” 

I adjusted my hold on Laserdream while she struggled to sniff the berries on the table, and reached out to shake the tail hand. Manny pulled away, swiping up like it was slicking its hair back and earning a laugh out of me. I wanted 10. 

“Sorry, he’s a bit of a brat,” Mickey said, Taylor handing over some plastic for the berries.

“He’s really cute,” I said. 

I switched tack, putting my hand down low for him to high five. 

“Oh, you work for the Professor,” he said before swiping the card on his tablet and flipping it around for Taylor to enter info. “She helped me and my brother out of a jam up in Ursina this past winter, nice woman.”

Manny brought his tail up and then down to hit my hand and I pulled away before he could make contact.

“Too slow,” I said.

He seemed to get a kick out of that, swinging his little arms and hopping around in a circle.

“Pom! Pom! Pom!”

Mickey grabbed another case of berries and handed them to Taylor.

“Here, shuca berries are a hard sell and I’d hate for these to go bad,” he said. “If the Professor needs some, she can have plenty.”

“Thanks,” Taylor said, stacking the boxes and turning to leave. “Have a great day!”

“See ya,” I said, booping Manny on the nose and following after Taylor. “Hey, I didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of him, but what kind of pokemon was that?”

“That was an Aipom, they aren’t from around here so don’t feel bad about not knowing,” she said. “There’s hundreds of pokemon out there and probably hundreds more we don’t even know about.”

She grabbed a berry and handed it to me while we walked. It was yellow with a curling green stem on top.

“For Laserdream,” she explained, as if she expected me to gobble it down on sight. Was my stomach really growling that loudly? “They’re great for electric types, so she should like it.”

Laserdream didn’t need any persuasion, already pawing at my hand to get it. Taylor was already feeding one to her hair, Joltik peeking out for a brief moment and taking it from her. I held mine over Laserdream’s mouth, relishing her opening her mouth with those cute little fangs for a moment before dropping it in her mouth. She swallowed it in like a second. 

“Did you even chew it?”

She just looked back up at me, happy as a clam. I pet the tufts of fur on her cheeks as we continued shopping. 

The berry guys weren’t the only ones who gave discounts or extras once they found out we were here on behalf of Professor Dallon, and soon, Taylor was carrying so much stuff that we had to buy a tote. We were closing in on 30 minutes and only had one thing left on the list to scratch off. 

“We’ll take a dozen ultra balls,” Taylor said.

“Sure thing, hon, they’re actually our last ones,” the woman said, grabbing a briefcase and filling it up.

I was a little disappointed the vendor selling poke balls didn’t have a pokemon herself, but I spotted a lemonade stand with a pink pokemon happily floating around it. Suddenly, my mouth went dry and the sun from the glass roof felt hotter on my skin.

“I’m going to get something to drink, want anything?” I asked Taylor.

“No, I’m fine, thanks though,” she said, fiddling with her wallet so she could have the card ready.

She had this handled. I made my way over to the lemonade, the pink pokemon sporting a wide smile as it bounced high in the air and slowly floated back down like it weighed nothing.

“This is a Hoppip right?” I asked the girl working the stand. She had a really cool pink hat, with two green leaves sprouting out of the top like her pokemon.

“You betcha,” she said.

“I’ll take one lemonade please.”

“Medium or large?”

“Large, for sure,” I said, forking over some cash. Taylor said she didn’t want any but I wasn’t about to flaunt lemonade in her face. We’d share. The girl put a big cup under a dispenser and poured.

“I really like your hat, where’d you get it?”

“Thanks! Got it from Ditto’s Boutique in Nova Cassio, they’ll design clothes based off of your pokemon, it’s great.”

That would explain the bird guy.

“Anything else I can help you with?” she asked, sliding over the lemonade that was already dripping with condensation. 

“I’m all set, thanks so much,” I said, grabbing a few napkins to get a better grip on the cup and then putting the spare change in her tip jar.

“Hoooooppip!” the Hoppip yawned as I made my leave, Laserdream and lemonade in tow.

I expected relief in Taylor’s face after finally getting the last item on the list but saw anything but. She was staring down at the ground, a group of girls crowded around her. I hurried over.

“What does a loser like you even need them for, Hebert,” one of the girls said. She had blue pins keeping brown hair away from her face and was holding a stuffed teddy bear even though she looked way too old to be carrying one around.

The one closest to Taylor had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and a gray tee. Apparently she was never taught about personal space.

“Just hand them over,” the ponytail girl said. “They shouldn’t go to waste on someone like you.”

“Hey!” I called out, wedging myself between her and Taylor. “What’s your problem?”

The girl didn’t like that at all and tried getting in my face. Laserdream growled and she backed off, still glaring me down.

The third girl spoke up, a Vulpix with fur as red as the girl’s hair yipping at Laserdream.

“And just who do you think you are?”

“Crystal, Taylor’s friend,” I said. “I’m guessing you all aren’t.”

They laughed and the stuffed animal the one girl was holding turned around. A pokemon apparently.

“As if,” the girl with the Vulpix said, flipping her hair. “Taylor is a loser with a capital L. You should spare yourself the trouble.”

“You’re not very nice,” I said, kind of taken aback that someone could think Taylor wasn’t insanely cool.

“And you’re not very bright,” the ponytail girl said. “Seriously, you must be stupid to want to hang out with her.”

I turned to leave, nudging Taylor ahead and the ponytail girl reached out and grabbed the briefcase handle.

“Just hand it over,” the redhead said. “Unlike you, Sophia actually needs those to be a trainer.”

I snapped around and the ponytail snatched the briefcase. 

“Hey, you can’t just-”

“Crystal… it’s fine, let’s just go,” Taylor said, voice barely stronger than whisper. I looked at her and my heart seized up a little looking at her staring away and at the ground, fist clenched around my shirt.

No way. They didn’t get to do that.

“See, it’s fine. She’ll get over it,” the ponytail girl said, securing her grip on the briefcase.

I handed the lemonade to Taylor and whipped back around.

“Give it back,” I told them.

They laughed again.

“Or what? Taylor can’t battle, she doesn’t even have a pokemon of her own,” the redhead said.

“What? Yes she-”

“Crystal, stop…” came the plea from behind me.

I couldn’t. I couldn’t let them walk off with those after what they said. I’d known her for maybe an hour and already knew Taylor wasn’t anything they said she was. Taylor worked too hard for these girls to just show up and bully her. 

“Then I’ll battle you!”

“Oh yeah? You and that pipsqueak?”

“Yeah! Against you and your Vulpix. Winner gets the ultra balls and if we win then you have to take back what you said. Taylor is smart and way cooler than any of you will ever be.”

There was another one of their annoying group laughs that sounded way too rehearsed.

“Emma doesn’t battle, dummy,” the stuffed animal girl said. “She and her Vulpix do modeling.”

“Yeah, well, good for her!” I said. “Her Vulpix is very pretty! You and that pokemon you’re holding also look really cute so I’m just going to assume you do too!”

“Uhm, thanks,” the stuffed animal girl said. “Teddy and I don’t model, but still.”

They looked confused from my yelled compliments.

“I’m not letting you take those ultra balls,” I said, lunging forward and yanking the briefcase out of the ponytail girl’s hands. She looked like steam was going to fume out of her ears.

“Fine,” she said, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll wipe the floor with you and show you what a real trainer looks like.”

“Bring it!” I shouted back, handing the briefcase back to Taylor, who fumbled for it with the lemonade in her hands. Laserdream barked, backing me up.


	11. Chapter 11

Aquilar Market was nearly as busy outside as it was inside. There were more picnic tables, except these had umbrellas through the middle to give people and pokemon shade while they ate snacks outside and watched pokemon battles. There were five battlefields out here, each sectioned off with waist-high railing. The center one was the biggest of the bunch and had a crowd around it as two trainers battled. I was too focused to pay much attention to what pokemon they were using, but I could hear the commands and attacks.

“Crystal, you don’t have to do this,” Taylor said from behind me.

“No, but I’m going to,” I said, opening the gate to enter one of the fields not in use. 

It was a massive upgrade from my past visits to Aquilar Town. Victoria and I would finish our dinners as quickly as possible so we could run over and see trainers battling in a grass field next to a construction site. We were on the opposite side of the market from where we entered and I could make out Victoria’s house on the hills, Aunt Carol’s lab dwarfing it right next door. 

I wish I could enjoy being one of the battlers for the first time, but I was upset. The three girls who gave Taylor a hard time were on the other side of the battlefield, sneering and laughing amongst each other. I set Laserdream down and she stretched. The grass was really nice, greener than the grass outside the railing. There were a few rocks here and there and the field was definitely on the smaller side compared to the others. 

“They made fun of you and tried stealing your stuff,” I said, dropping my bag and the briefcase at the end of the field opposite them. “That’s not cool.”

“But what if you lose?” Taylor said, unloading her bags from shopping next to mine.

“Then we make a break for it and run towards the Professor’s lab with the ultra balls and hope they don’t catch us.”

I looked at her, expecting a laugh or a smile or anything but there was only worry.

“Hey, I was just kidding,” I said, walking up to her. “If I lose, then I lose. It’ll suck, especially considering it would be losing to those jerks. We’ll talk to security or whatever and make them back off. In hindsight, I probably should’ve just done that instead of making an even bigger deal about it.”

Now that made her laugh, the noise still small and quiet though. I’d never been bullied, at least not beyond some snide comments here and there. I wasn’t really sure what to say or what to do and part of me worried I wasn’t helping whatsoever. 

“What matters is that we’re going to do something, one way or the other,” I said.

I held out a fist and she looked like she had no idea what to do with it. 

“It’s a fist bump, you hit mine with yours.”

She did and it was clumsy. I smiled, bending down to grab another one of those berries for Laserdream.

“We’ll work on it,” I said, popping back up and stretching my back. 

Laserdream apparently saw me grab it because she was already at my feet, jumping at my shins. I held it at bay until she calmed down. Once she sat, I knelt down.

“Sorry for just sort of roping you into this,” I said, petting the top of her head. Her eyes were glued to my hand with the berry and I gave it to her. Seeing her happy calmed my nerves a bit.

“I don’t know what you just gave your lame pokemon, but it’s not going to matter,” the ponytail girl yelled out. Her friends were still holding their pokemon and the hairpin girl said something I couldn’t make out that made the others laugh.

“Let’s do our best,” I whispered, the words intended more for myself than Laserdream. Still, it was cue enough for Laserdream to run out in the middle of the field.

The ponytail girl reached into her shorts pocket and pulled out a pokeball. 

“Let’s get this over with, Shadow Stalker,” she said, tossing it forward. 

Red light flashed out and took the shape of a pokemon I wasn’t familiar with. It was smaller than I thought it’d be considering all her smack talk and looked like a blue sock puppet, with a round head and a big horn on top of it. The rest of its body seemed to drape off of it like it was wearing a dress, the bottom half flowing even though there wasn’t any wind blowing.

I tried to get a better look and it vanished, yellow and blue eyes the last to disappear before there was nothing there. Just like that, the battle was underway apparently, her pokemon already up to something. Laserdream looked just as confused as I did, searching around. 

“Shadow Sneak,” the girl said.

I looked at her and suddenly Laserdream was knocked aside, skidding along the grass before finding her footing.

“You okay?”

“Shi,” Laserdream answered, giving a little nod and lowering her front half. Her eyes darted around and I took a deep breath. Relax, it was a cheap shot and she’s fine. 

“Again,” the girl said. 

Whatever it was, it was fast. Before the girl had even finished talking, Laserdream was sent sprawling again. The hit either didn’t make much contact this time or Laserdream was expecting it because she was back up on her feet in no time.

I needed to do something but how the heck was I supposed to fight something I couldn’t even see?

“Just hang in there,” I called out.

Laserdream hunkered down and I focused entirely on her. It was going to attack again and if I couldn’t figure out how to deal with it, then we had no shot.

“Let her have it,” the girl shouted.

Focus. Ignore her and just focus. 

“There,” I said under my breath.

I saw it at the same time Laserdream was hit for a third time. Not the pokemon, but enough to maybe turn things around. It was subtle but I had a feeling that I could pick it out again now that I had actually seen it.

“Be ready,” I told Laserdream as she shook off the worst of that last attack. She didn’t look my way and I noticed her tufted ears perk up. Or maybe that was just my imagination. No, she was listening, waiting for my command.

“You talked like you actually knew what you were doing,” the girl said. She looked more bored over there than anything. “This is your first battle, isn’t it? I hate people who talk the talk and can’t back it up. Shadow Stalker, finish this weakling off.”

The sunlight forced me to squint but I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Laserdream’s shadow. Sure enough, her shadow flickered, the darkness distorting like a static tv for a second.

“Dodge!” I screamed, getting the attention of some passersby.

Laserdream leapt forward and her shadow didn’t come with her, the dark blot staying put before fading away. She kept up her run, swerving between some of the rocks before hunkering back down.

“Nice job, Laserdream,” I said, smiling. We hadn’t done much more than avoid one attack and yet it was like a weight off my shoulders. Our shoulders, I thought, seeing Laserdream get in the same ready position as before.

“Big whoop,” the redhead said.

“Yeah, you were just lucky,” the hairpin girl added. “You’re still gonna lose.”

The girl I was actually battling didn’t chime in though.

“Again,” she said, an edge to her voice this time.

The flicker was immediate and I barely got the call out in time.

“Now!”

Laserdream got out of the way of the attack and ran back closer to me. It was a good idea, letting me get a better look to spot for her before each attack.

“Hey, ready to fight back?” I asked her, keeping my voice low so the other girl couldn’t hear.

“Shinx!” Laserdream said, not getting the memo on volume and making me laugh.

“Thought so,” I said.

My heart was racing, yet I couldn’t seem to stop smiling. I turned to Taylor and she looked like a nervous wreck, sucking down the lemonade I got for us.

“Relax, before you turn the whole cup inside out,” I told her. Her Joltik was still hiding in her hair, too deep in there for me to see him. 

I returned my attention to Laserdream, eyes glued to her shadow for the other pokemon’s attack. If it worked like I thought then…

“Stalk, quit messing around!”

The distortion was much more violent, as if her pokemon tried matching the agitation in her voice. I could make out a faint, yellow eye in Laserdream’s shadow as it twisted and tore apart.

“Laserdream, you got this!”

She bolted forward, kicking up some of the grass and sprinting out of the way.

“Use Tackle!”

Laserdream turned in a tight circle, jumping on a rock to quickly change direction and take off toward the shadow where the other pokemon was hiding. 

“Wait, Crystal,” Taylor said.

Laserdream pounced, jumping on top of the shifting darkness. As planned, her pokemon appeared after being hit dead on. Not as planned though was the fact that it looked completely unbothered, tongue out and floating through and above Laserdream.

The group of girls laughed, the ponytail girl I was battling shaking her head.

“What gives?” 

“Shuppet is a ghost type, Tackle doesn’t affect it,” Taylor said, holding the cup in a vice grip.

“You know,” the ponytail girl called out. “I was joking about the whole first battle thing but you really don’t have a clue do you? Hanging out with Hebert must drain away brain cells, huh.”

She and her friends laughed. Her pokemon, a Shuppet according to Taylor, made an eerie screeching to join in the laughter as well. Confused, Laserdream ran back towards me. I clenched my fist. We’d pulled that off and had nothing to show for it.

“Well, Laserdream’s only attack is Tackle,” I told Taylor, ignoring their heckling.

“Sorry, I should’ve told you before you got in this mess for my sake.”

I didn’t have to look her way to know she was staring at the ground.

“Don’t apologize,” I said. “We’ll find a way.”

Although I had no idea how Laserdream would find a way to hurt that thing. How we would find a way, I reminded myself. Laserdream was steady, feet planted and body rising and falling with each breath. Her tail swished behind her, eager and raring to go. 

“Shadow Stalker, use Night Shade and wipe that smile off her face.”

Was I smiling? I didn’t notice but the excitement was blocking out most of everything else while I battled. Her Shuppet floated into the air and its horn started glowing crimson, darkness gathering around it. We couldn’t attack it so we had to keep up the defense until we had a plan.

“Get moving, Laserdream,” I said. “I’m not sure what they’re planning, but try to put something between you two.”

Laserdream ran around the battlefield, keeping her eyes on the Shuppet. The shadows continued to swirl around Shuppet’s horn, veins of crimson racing through them until it all released in a thin beam towards Laserdream. She dove to her right to get behind a rock and the beam shifted to follow her, colliding with the rock.

“Shi-” Laserdream cried out, the sound swallowed up as crimson and darkness covered where she was to the point I couldn’t see her.

“Laserdream!”

The flickering shadows expanded out until half the battlefield was engulfed and then they violently contracted back in and detonated, sending wisps of black and red in all directions. Laserdream layed on her side; the rock she was using for cover was rubble around her. 

“Pathetic,” the ponytail girl said. “Stalk, again.”

Her Shuppet made that creepy sound again and began collecting shadows for another attack, horn glowing. 

“Laserdream, you have to get up and try to dodge it.”

Slowly, Laserdream rolled over and got to her feet. She tried to take a few steps and stumbled, weight giving out on her forelegs. Not good.

“You can do it!”

The beam fired and I had to physically stop myself from running out there and getting in the way of it. Laserdream tried to get up and fell right back over.

“No, I-”

Lightning intercepted the beam, bolts tracing through it until hitting the Shuppet in its horn. Her Shuppet tumbled through the air, landing on the ground as sparks and shadows rained down on the battlefield. My relief that Laserdream had learned an electric type move in the nick of time was short lived once I saw her looking around in confusion. If it wasn’t her then…

I turned to Taylor, expecting to see her Joltik on her shoulder after attacking. Instead, Taylor was looking past me, towards the crowd that had apparently gathered. 

Victoria stood with her arms crossed on the other side of the railing. Antares was on the battlefield with his fists raised, electricity crackling between them. She hopped the railing with ease, her bag slung over her shoulder.

“What’s the big idea, Dallon?!” the ponytail girl yelled. “We were having a battle!”

“And I’m ending it, Sophia,” Victoria said, making her way to the center of the battlefield where Laserdream layed. 

They knew each other? Sophia’s Shuppet vanished and reappeared next to its trainer, “dress” flowing as it shook off the aftershocks of Antares’ attack. I hurried to Laserdream as Victoria knelt down to her.

Laserdream looked worse for wear, some scrapes and cuts on her legs and one side. I rubbed my hand through her fur, taking mental note where she twitched as I went over certain spots.

“Whatever, we had a deal,” the redhead said, stepping forward onto the arena even though she was apparently too cool to battle. “Hand over the ultra balls.”

Victoria shot me a look. 

“You gambled with stuff meant for the Professor?”

“Yes. I mean, no. They stole them!” I said, pointing at the bandits. 

It was their turn to get the brunt of Victoria’s stink eye. The redhead rolled her eyes so hard she managed to turn it into a hair flip.

“Reach in my bag and grab a potion for Laserdream,” Victoria told me.

With that, she stood up and walked towards them. I think they flinched but I was much more focused on searching through Victoria’s bag. I’d seen potions and other medicine before when volunteering at Mom’s gym in Bet, but I was in a bit of a panic and her bag was messy with huge rocks and batteries. 

“Here,” Taylor said, right by my side and taking over with the rifling. “Let me help, just point out where she’s hurt.”

“If you want the stuff they bought then you can take it up with me,” Victoria said, Antares right there with her. “I have no problem beating you again, Sophia.”

Taylor pulled out the potion and her Joltik jumped from hair to shoulder and then scurried down her arm and into the grass, too small to be seen. I pointed to a gash on Laserdream’s foreleg that gave her the most trouble and Taylor sprayed. 

“Bring it on, Dallon, I’ve been training,” Sophia said. 

Laserdream winced as the spray made contact. Joltik hopped onto her neck and gave a shock, tiny sparks flying. I had no idea if it actually helped, but I appreciated the support. Maybe it was a small way of saying he was by her side or maybe it was some weird electric type bonding practice.

We were being a bit dramatic, Laserdream more or less fine and getting a little pick-me-up after a tough battle. Still, I continued to point out spots for Taylor to spray, no matter how small or minor. She needed to know that I appreciated her going all out for me and that I had her back in the aftermath.

“Forget it, Sophia,” the redhead said. “They aren’t worth the breath.”

Apparently we were though, considering she couldn’t help but get one last jab in while leading her entourage out of the battlefield.

“You’re lucky your guardian angel showed up to save you again, Taylor,” she said. Her Vulpix turned her nose up at us as they left and Sophia’s Shuppet stuck out its tongue before vanishing. 

“Ignore them,” I told Taylor, but I didn’t even think she noticed they said anything. She was zoned in on healing Laserdream until the bottle was empty. 

After making sure those three didn’t try anything else, Victoria made her way back over to us. 

“Everyone good?” she asked.

Taylor and I nodded but Laserdream was still on her side, even though her battle scars were all gone. 

“Good,” Victoria continued. “Those three are punks, fill me in on what happened over some lunch? My treat, I’m starving.”

Laserdream shot up like a rocket at the mention of food, Taylor’s Joltik barely holding on to her fur.


	12. Chapter 12

Another belue berry fell off my spoon and Laserdream caught it before it hit the ground.

“I told you they poured heavy,” Victoria said before shoving more rice in her mouth.

“Again, serving sizes are just a suggestion,” I said, trying again. 

My berry bowl was overfilled to the point that I spilled some with nearly every step. Layers of puréed yache berry and granola gave the bowl most of its heft. I pushed my spoon in to get some of the granola at the bottom and the sliced nanab and rawst berries threatened to jump ship on the side.

“For a reason,” Victoria said, watching me struggle.

“The problem isn’t the fact that it’s the party size, it’s that I have to eat it while walking. We should’ve stayed to watch some battles at one of the tables.”

“And have the Professor get mad at us for showing up to the lab late? You two may not have to deal with her after hours, but it’s not pretty if she has a bad day.”

“Still weird that you call her that.”

Laserdream claimed another belue berry, missing the catch and having to find it in the grass. She hurried to catch up to us as we made our way uphill to the lab, Aquilar Market behind us.

“I’m technically on the clock,” Victoria said, shrugging.

Taylor didn’t chime in. She’d been relatively quiet since the battle and I jogged up to her.

“Hey, help me put a dent in this before we get there,” I told her, waving my bowl in her face.

“No thanks,” she said.

We reached a part of the path without much incline and I took advantage of it, turning around to walk backward so I could face her. I lifted the bowl up to my mouth, snagging a slice of nanab berry between my teeth and swallowing it. Victoria was little help in getting Taylor out of this funk, too busy eating her rice and veggie bowl like her life depended on it.

“A berry for Joltik then?” I asked.

She whistled, lips in a smile, and Joltik peeked out of her hair. I had no clue how she wasn’t dying in that big hoodie, the sun still beating down on us. Her smoothie probably helped, the swirling bright colors in it a stark contrast to the fairly dull tones of her clothes. I was surprised Victoria hadn’t helped her out in that regard.

Just seeing Joltik seemed to lift her spirits though, the little guy hopping onto her shoulder before crawling down her arm. Even though Joltik was as cute as a button, it was still a little unnerving that a bug pokemon just sort of lived in her hair. Just the idea of something crawling on my body made me shiver and yet Taylor was as calm as can be. I grabbed a belue berry and handed it over to him, tiny mouth biting it and taking it back up to Taylor’s shoulder to eat.

“Wanna talk about what happened?” I asked, feeling bad at how she withdrew back into herself after I brought it up.

“Sorry for dragging you into my problems,” she said.

“I wasn’t dragged, there’s no need to apologize for other people being jerks,” I said.

“Massive jerks,” Victoria added with a full mouth. She swallowed before continuing. “Those three have been giving Taylor a hard time for a while. Stealing stuff, making fun of her, grade school nonsense, honestly.”

“Why don’t you put them in their place with a battle?” I asked Taylor, handing a nanab berry slice over to her Joltik. “You clearly know a lot about pokemon, but acted like Joltik didn’t even exist in the market.”

“I’ve never battled before,” Taylor said. “The last thing I want to do is get Joltik hurt for no reason.”

Her Joltik stopped nibbling and scurried over to her neck, nuzzling up against her. Laserdream was gobbling up some berries I didn’t even know fell. She looked up at me and cocked her head to the side.

“I’m not an expert or anything like you two or the Professor,” I said. “But I think pokemon like being there for trainers in a battle. If you lose, then at least you lost together.”

“I don’t want to lose at all though,” Taylor said. “Sometimes…”

She stopped walking and had a staring contest with a rock at her feet. Victoria and I stopped too and maybe she felt like a spotlight suddenly fell on her because she paused for a bit before finishing.

“Sometimes I feel like Joltik deserves a better trainer than me.”

Victoria beat me to comfort her, hand on her shoulder in a flash. I didn’t take it they were close, especially considering Victoria had never brought her up before. But I was sure this wasn’t the first time Victoria put herself between that trio and Taylor and that it wouldn’t be the last.

“My offer to train you and Joltik still stands,” she said. “It helps more than you probably think.”

“It’s not that. Joltik and I are close and battling would make us closer but…”

“But you want the best for them,” I said, looking more at Laserdream than who I was actually talking to. “You want them to be happy and you kind of worry that if you aren’t doing your best then they aren’t doing their best either.”

“Yeah.”

“I think Joltik is happy being with you, whether you battle or not.”

She perked up a little at that and Joltik drove the point home by rubbing his mandibles together and creating a little spark. It was enough to jumpstart Taylor into walking again, sipping her smoothie. There was more I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to prod anymore than I already had. Especially not when I was still kind of agitated about everything. I pretty much lost the battle with the ghost girl, and although that didn’t really bother me I still felt like I didn’t do enough.

We all hurried along up the hill; the more progress I made in my berry bowl the more easily I could walk. Was every day in Gimel this pretty? The path we took was carved into the hill by foot traffic and bicycles, red wildflowers taking up more real estate than grass in the fields the further we traveled. The faint outline of Mt. Minor hung past the hills far off in the distance, fog trying its best to hide it. It was like a teaser for an adventure I couldn’t wait to start.

Or it would be torture seeing that every day if my parents made me wait an eternity before I could actually *see* it. I didn’t have a word for this mixed feeling of anxiety and excitement that took a hold of me whenever I thought about the upcoming meeting with my parents, but I wasn’t a huge fan of it. A sharp elbow to my side tore me away from my daydreaming and into a world of hurt.

“Sorry, that wasn’t supposed to be that hard,” Victoria said, actually concerned for my well being after jabbing me.

“Well what was it supposed to do?!” I shouted. Well, I tried to shout. My voice came out somewhere between a wheeze and a groan, hand at my side.

“Get your attention. So, mission accomplished.”

“Mission failed, medical assistance needed,” I said, hand at my side and hamming it up by hunching over like an old woman.

“I wanted to say thanks,” Victoria said.

“Funny way of saying it,” I said, straightening and stretching a bit.

“I’m serious,” she said.

The wind had a hold of Victoria’s hair and wouldn’t let go, golden strands flowing freely behind her. Even though she was talking to me, her attention was on Taylor walking ahead of us.

“Thanks for having her back.”

“Of course, you don’t have to thank me for that.”

“No, but I’m still going to,” she said. 

Laserdream and Antares were in the flowers playing some game that must’ve been Antares’ idea. Antares picked Laserdream up and chucked her forward like a shot put. It didn’t look too dangerous, Laserdream landing on her feet to run right back to be thrown again. 

“She’s had a rough go of things, between them and home.”

“Taylor told you that?” 

“She didn’t need to.”

True enough. Pity was far from the right word, but I wanted to protect that smile Taylor had when Joltik skittered out of her hair or when she got to talk about pokemon. 

“She should go on an adventure with us,” I blurted out. 

“Believe me, I’ve- wait, us?” Victoria whipped her head around at me and I gave her a smirk in return.

“Yeah, Mom’s coming home early tonight so we can talk about it,” I told her, leaving out the part where she shut me down last night. 

“Would Eric be leaving too?”

I shrugged. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind really. He’d probably stick around at home with Dad. I looked out at Mt. Minor, unable to even picture him scaling it or challenging a gym or anything really outdoorsy. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do any of that, I just couldn’t shake the image of my little brother playing video games in his room with his new pokemon cradled up in his lap.

“Can I ask you something?” I said, gaze still fixed on the horizon.

“Go for it.”

“Why are you going on an adventure? Like beyond gym badges and collecting whatever it is you’re collecting for your mom?”

“Because staying cooped up between here and Nova Cassio is going to drive me insane.”

“I’m being for real.”

“So am I,” she said. “There’s a whole region filled with things I’ve never seen before and I don’t know how long I can go without seeing it all. And I want that for you too. And Taylor. Everyone deserves to see what Gimel has to offer. If it means I have to do some tasks here and there for Mom then so be it.”

I chewed on her words between scoops of berry and granola as we kept walking towards the lab. If I wanted to get Mom’s stamp of approval to go on a journey, I’d have to figure out why I wanted to. I didn’t really have a set goal in mind. I wanted to challenge the gyms, but only because it seemed like a fun thing to do rather than any actual desire to be Champion or anything. Was wanting to have fun a good enough reason to leave on my own and travel a region I knew nothing about? Hopefully.

“Taylor told me she didn’t want to leave town,” I said. “That she was fine working for your Mom.”

Victoria laughed and we were far enough back that Taylor hopefully couldn’t over hear. She was moving with some speed, probably to get those heavy shopping bags off her shoulders.

“You’ve hung out with her today right?”

“Yeah, she’s cool.”

“Extremely, but she’s a liar,” Victoria said. She quickly amended her statement after my gasp. “Not to others! Herself. She doesn’t think she can battle even though she knows more about pokemon than I do. She loves pokemon, it’s why she sticks around with the assistant gig.”

“Yeah, her eyes light up when you bring them up,” I said. 

“Right. They don’t light up much,” Victoria said. “A journey might change that. Might not, but I want her to at least try and not settle.”

“How do you have a best friend and never tell me about her?”

“There’s a lot I have to catch you up on, but she’s not my best friend,” Victoria said. “That title probably belongs to my boyfriend.”

“What?! Who? When? How?”

“Hey, what do you mean how?” she responded, narrowing her eyes.

“You know what I mean, I need answers, you can’t just drop a bomb like that on me.”

Victoria shoved the rest of her rice bowl into her mouth as we reached the top of the hill where Taylor was waiting, Laserdream and Antares hurrying along. 

“I get it now,” I continued, “you just want to go on a journey so you can ride off in the sunset with this random guy.”

“As if,” she said, rice falling out of her mouth. “And he’s not random, we’ve been friends for a while.”

“Oh, are you talking about Dean?” Taylor asked.

“Ooooh, Dean,” I cooed. “Taylor, tell me more about this Dean.”

“Uhm, he’s nice,” she said. “I’ve only seen him when Victoria and I go to Nova Cassio.”

“A city boy?”

“Don’t say that like you didn’t just move here from a city,” Victoria said. “You heard Taylor, he’s nice, now drop it before Mom finds out.”

“Only if you promise to give me more details later,” I said.

“Fine, deal,” she said, serving me an eyeroll. “Now hush, we’re here.”

I wanted to press further with my interrogation but it’d have to wait now that we were in front of the lab. The building was wider than it was tall, a yellow paint job not really matching the steel shutters on the front door and windows. Right next door was Victoria’s actual house, its two-story frame piercing into the sky and facing the rest of Aquilar Town down below. Uncle Mark’s car was parked outside but I didn’t think he was home considering the lab was locked down and the lights in the house were all off. 

A security camera above the lab’s door came to life, whipping up and stopping on a dime in our direction. A red light in the middle blinked and then focused on us.

“Al, it’s us,” Victoria said. “We’re just dropping off some stuff, I’m sure Professor Dallon told you we were coming.”

There was an awkward pause and nothing happened, the red eye in the camera not budging. Victoria’s sigh was heavy.

“Oh my gosh, fine. Assistant Dallon, requesting entrance.”

The camera shifted quickly to Taylor.

“Assistant Hebert, requesting entrance.”

I gave Alma a wave when it was my turn, the glowing red light hard to look at.

“Assistant Pelham, requesting entrance.”

Nothing happened. The awkward silence was made worse by the noise of Taylor sucking down the last of her smoothie.

“Worth a shot,” I said. “Crystal Pelham, requesting entrance.”

The camera went limp and the shutters on the door and windows shot up. Antares ran inside but Laserdream stayed by my legs.

“It’s okay,” I told her. “Alma’s cool, even if it can be a pain.”

She still didn’t budge, so I picked her up and carried her in behind Taylor and Victoria. The lab always made me think of a spaceship thanks to the fluorescent lights and everything coated in white. The entrance was a pretty long hallway with white tiles on the floor and walls. Up ahead before we reached them, tiles on one wall peeled away to reveal a closet. More hidden closets did the same as we made our way down the hallway, one for coats or jackets, another for umbrellas in case it was raining. As we passed them, they closed back up and Laserdream jumped as they did so.

I gave her what was left of my berry bowl to help cool her nerves some and then tossed the bowl and spoon away in a garbage can on the left that quickly sealed itself off. If I was as small as Laserdream and not already used to the lab, I’d be pretty spooked too. Lights only turned on as we neared them and shut off behind us until we reached the end of the hallway. Laserdream was the only newbie and I gave her a little squeeze of support in my arms.

The wall opened up automatically for us, Taylor not even having to break her stride to enter the open area of the lab. A corner was sectioned off in plexiglass to serve as an office of sorts for Professor Dallon, but most of the room was spacious enough where we could freely walk around. Taylor and Victoria unloaded their bags onto a nearby table while Antares ran to the left side of the room where snack and drink dispensers lined the wall. There were more monitors than tile on the wall farthest from where we entered and I recognized a map of Shinespright Wood on one of them.

Laserdream was focused entirely on Alma in the center of the room though. Even in a room this big, Alma carried a level of presence hovering in front of the pokemon healing station. All three of Alma’s eyes followed Laserdream and I, its magnets spinning a few times and yellow antenna flashing before a chair moved from under a table and towards us.

“That’s okay, Alma,” I said, grabbing the chair’s back and sliding it back across the floor. “I don’t plan on staying long.”

Alma’s antenna went off again and the chair shifted direction to slide perfectly back under the table Alma pulled it from. Magnezone were already rare, but Alma was one of a kind. Originally Aunt Carol’s partner pokemon way back during her journey with my mom and Uncle Mike, Alma followed in her footsteps when she became a professor as well and pretty much ran the lab when Aunt Carol was out and about. If allowed to take the tests and certifications, Alma could probably become a professor itself.

“You’re not staying?” Taylor asked, rolling her shoulders now that they were free from the bags.

“Nah, I have to head home pretty soon to talk with my parents and eat dinner.”

Suddenly, the wall with the snacks shot out a steel cup under a dispenser and filled it up with trail mix.

“Thanks,” I told Alma, “but I just had some granola and berries.”

The building itself reacted, metal scraping and knocking together until the microwave kicked to life.

“Mom’s making lasagna, I’ll be fine.”

The microwave stopped cooking whatever the heck Alma loaded inside. 

“Antares, no,” Victoria called out.

He was doing his best to try and climb the counter to get at the cup of trail mix Alma made for me. Seeing that Victoria was emptying her bag, he got down and went to her, reaching up for the table. 

“Fine,” she said, giving him a battery. “But only because you played it cool at the market.”

Alma hovered our way at that, positioning itself in front of Victoria. It raised a magnet to gesture towards a monitor that went static and then displayed a map of Aquilar Town with a blinking question mark. 

“Nothing happened,” Victoria said. 

Taylor and I nodded in agreement. Maybe it was because nearly every waking moment was spent cooped up in this lab, but Alma was notoriously nosy and a total blabbermouth despite having neither a nose nor a mouth. The red, center eye was focused on Victoria while the eye on Alma’s right shoulder stared me down. Laserdream squirmed in my arms under Alma’s intense gaze, clawing my arm some. 

“You’re scaring her,” I said, twisting my body to put more of myself between Laserdream and Alma.

Immediately, Alma backed off, magnets raised in apology and floating up in the air. There was a series of high-pitched beeps that made Laserdream’s ears twitch and perk up. Electricity formed at the end of Alma’s magnets and the lights flickered a few times.

“I said she was scared, what are-“

“It’s fine,” Victoria said. “Al does this for Antares sometimes.”

I was about to protest but Laserdream didn’t seem too bothered, tail swishing around. Electricity danced around Alma’s antenna like a lightning rod and Antares took the chewed-up battery out of his mouth, giving it back to Victoria

“I’m not saving this for you,” she said, gingerly holding the garbled up mess in her hands. 

Antares hesitated, having to choose between savoring it longer or joining in on whatever Alma was up to. He went with the latter, running out to the middle of the lab. Tables and chairs moved out of the way to clear the area a bit more and Alma zapped the electricity from its antennae into the tiles surrounding Antares. 

Sparks covered most of the floor, stopping short where we were.

“Shinx,” Laserdream yipped, pushing against me.

I let her down and she ran into the electrified floor, the sparks sticking to her.

“Electric terrain,” Taylor said. Joltik was at her wrist, scoping things out while sticking close to her. “Alma’s is a bit different from most, but the gist is the same.”

I nodded, not having the slightest clue what she was talking about.

“Ele!” Antares shouted.

He was jumping in place, fists raised to the ceiling where Alma still hovered. Laserdream cocked her head to the side, apparently not understanding whatever it was he was trying to say. Alma rolled all three of its eyes and then spun its magnets. The sparks on the floor connected together like threads, thickening and taking on a bolder yellow color. The electricity around Laserdream and Antares formed rings and the floor pulsed, rings of electricity flowing out from the center to the rest of the room. The effect was faint once it reached me, static tickling my ankles.

The rings around Laserdream lifted her up and off the floor, her legs kicking like she was swimming. Her flailing made her do a front flip until she was stuck upside down in midair, desperately looking around. Antares came to her rescue, swimming in the air over to her and setting her back up straight. 

Alma kept a watchful eye on the two as Antares tried to teach Laserdream how to move around while floating. At least I assumed that was what he was trying to communicate. Antares seemed to communicate exclusively through punching and shouting. I took my phone out to snap a few pictures once Laserdream got the hang of it, awkwardly pouncing forward to get from one spot to the other. 

“Joltik doesn’t like it?” I asked, turning back to Taylor and Victoria at the table.

They were sorting through their bags, stacking berries, stones, and objects I didn’t even recognize onto the briefcase with the ultra balls. 

“He does, just not when Antares is around,” Taylor said.

I looked over at Antares doing a series of somersaults in midair while Laserdream watched. 

“No offense!” she added to Victoria.

“None taken,” Victoria said, laughing. “He can be a bit rowdy.”

If Joltik had ears, they must’ve been burning because he emerged from Taylor’s bag with a stray berry in tow. He scurried over to his own little pile and dropped it, adding it to gum wrappers and spare change he found at the bottom of her bag. After making sure it didn’t roll away, he dived back into Taylor’s bag to haul more out. 

“Anything else you guys need from me?” I asked.

“Not that I can think of,” Victoria said. “Need help getting back? The forest is pretty quiet around sunset.”

For all the technical advancements Alma and Professor Dallon loaded into this place, there wasn’t a clock in sight. I checked my phone. Much later than I would’ve liked. Mom was probably already home and forming a game plan with Dad about tonight’s talk.

“I should be fine, I’ll text or call if I get lost.”

“Oh, hand me your phone real quick,” Taylor said, palm out. 

“Oh yeah, can’t believe I forgot to give you my number,” I said, giving it to her with a new contact page preloaded.

“I was just going to charge it...” she said, trailing off. 

Still, she typed out the info and stopped Joltik after he dropped off a bobby pin in his little pile. 

Taylor set the phone face down on the table and Joltik seemed to know the drill, dashing over to crawl on top of it. Electricity buzzed around him and the phone and after a few seconds he stopped and went back on Taylor’s shoulder. She handed my phone back and sure enough it was at a full charge, although a little warm in my hand.

“Well aren’t you just the best,” I said, reaching forward to scratch Joltik’s back with my finger. 

He dashed back into Taylor’s hair once I finished, his shy expression matching Taylor’s.

“I’ll text once I make it home,” I told them, pulling my backpack over my shoulders. “Ready, Dream?”

Laserdream tried to turn around and face me when the effect ended, unceremoniously dropping her and Antares to her feet. Antares complained, taking a bit of a rougher landing, but Alma ignored him. After a quick shake to catch her bearings and find me, Laserdream ran over and leaped up to me. I caught her and my shirt clung to her fur from the static. 

“Tell everyone bye,” I said, grabbing her paw and making it wave.

“Shinx!”

The group gave its farewells and we left the lab, Laserdream much more at ease this time as we went down the long hallway. The door didn’t open once we reached it though.

“Alma, door.”

Nothing.

“Alma, come on, I need to-”

The wall next to the door unfolded, revealing a pedestal with a box on top. I opened it and the inside was lined with felt, securing a small coin in place. A pin, I realized, picking it up and inspecting it. Etched on its face was a star design similar to the one on Laserdream’s tail. Bolts of lightning made up the background, curving as if the star was shooting them outward.

“Thank you so much,” I said, immediately pinning it on my shirt. The door opened once I did. “Seriously, Alma. This means a lot, you didn’t have to do this.”

The wall simply sealed itself back off and I walked outside, looking up at the security camera Alma already had trained on me. The door shuttered itself closed again and I began the journey home feeling pretty good about what would come next.


	13. Chapter 13

The sugar rush from my berry bowl ran off a while before I arrived in Polaria Town. I made pretty decent time back, putting Laserdream back in her ball so she didn’t try picking a fight with any wild pokemon that were just enjoying an afternoon stroll through Shinespright Wood. Not that I saw many of them. Just like Victoria said, the forest was pretty quiet on the return trip, pokemon no longer fighting for real estate now that the sun was setting I guess.

The map was actually useful since I could just follow the trails and not have to search in the grass for singing bugs. Now I was going from one barely known territory to another. Polaria Town was far from complicated as far as layout went, dirt roads connecting houses to buildings with more foot traffic that I hadn’t been able to fully check out yet. It meant I wasn’t privy to the shortcuts home other than vaguely going in the direction of the corner furthest from the town entrance and risk stumbling into someone’s backyard.

My legs jittered and not just because I had been on them all day long. I imagined this is what skydiving felt like, knowing things would probably work out but still struggling to take that step forward. A cocktail of excitement and nervousness rested heavy in my mouth. I swallowed it and made a detour to a coffee shop where some people were picking up fuel for the night ahead.

Besides, it wasn’t like I was in any rush to get home. The lasagna waiting for me was enticing, but the impending meeting with my parents was just enough for me to slow my roll and take my time looking at the menu instead of ordering my usual. 

It was a cute little spot, a striped awning hanging off the shack to give those in line some shade. Built into the exterior of the coffeeshop were shelves stuffed with books and magazines, spines covered with colors and logos. I guess it doubled as a library of sorts, where customers could take and return something to read while they sipped their coffee. Two kids were thumbing their way through the selection, taking the books out to get a good look at the front cover before shoving them back in their spot. 

Their parents were in line in front of me, one of the dads urging them to pick some out so they could finish their order while the other arranged coffee and smoothies on a little drink carrier. A smoothie sounded amazing, but I was wanting something with a little more of a bite to it. Or at least a nibble, I thought, my eyes continuously coming back to the frozen options with the fun names. 

“S’more the S’merrier, please,” I told the barista after the dads and kids made their leave.

“Oooh, good choice,” he said, flashing an infectious smile. “Size?”

“Pichu,” I said, resisting the urge to get a cup bigger than my head.

“Cool, name?”

“Crystal.”

And with that, he got to work behind the counter and I stood off to the side. He seemed to have his hands full with another customer so I took the time to dig into the magazines. Leader’s Digest was a familiar sight, although the color scheme and font were a bit different compared to Bet’s version. The content was still pretty much the same though, with monthly stories about gym leaders and trainers throughout the region. The biggest difference though was the lack of photos, words taking up most of the space on the pages. It must’ve been an older issue since there were no mentions of Mom either.

There was a tug at my back and I swiveled around, alarmed that someone was trying to get in my backpack. A woman sitting down behind me pulled her hand away, eyes wide.

“Sorry! I was just getting these off of you,” she said.

She held the offending hand up, fingertips coated in yellow.

“Thanks?”

“They’re stun spores,” she explained, closing the book in front of her and then shaking her hand so the yellow powder rained down onto the grass. “Nothing harmful. At least not in small doses, it can just be troublesome if not taken care of. Rashes, sneezing, full-blown paralysis.”

“Oh,” I said, a little spooked.

“May I?” she asked, pointing around at my backpack.

I took it off, moving carefully to make sure that none of those spore things would touch me. Sure enough, that yellow powder was all over my backpack, clumping up at the edges. I handed it over to the woman who was way too casual picking it off with her bare hands.

“I’m Crystal,” I said, sticking a hand out for a handshake and then awkwardly pulling it back to my side once I realized her hands were covered in the stuff.

“Very nice to meet you Crystal,” the woman responded.

Her book was thick, a bookmark with a stylized pair of wings embossed on it marked her place. A similar logo was stamped on the front of her gray, cable beanie. Black hair spilled out from under it, flowing past bare shoulders and blending in with a black, puffed vest with fur at the collar. It made me hot just looking at her considering the temperature, but she didn’t look bothered at all. 

In fact, comfortable seemed to best describe her whole vibe as she finished picking off the spores and pushing the bag back around to me.

“Thanks,” I said, slinging the backpack over my shoulders. “I didn’t even notice that stuff.”

“Happy to help, are you a trainer?”

“Yeah,” I said before shaking my head and backtracking. “Well, not technically, but I’ve battled before. Just got my first pokemon yesterday.”

There was something familiar about the way her eyes lit up and how her smile widened but I couldn’t place it.

“They’re the best, aren’t they? Sit, keep me some company while I wait for my coffee.”

She worded it like a command instead of a request, but I still sat down in the empty seat across from her. What was I going to do, decline and awkwardly stand around a few feet away? Plus, she seemed cool and helped me out. I got a better look at her bookmark; a figure that reminded me of a chess piece was in the center of the icon, thick wings that formed into punching fists at their ends twisted up and around the structure. 

“So, day two of technically not being a trainer,” she said, leaning forward and not shying away from making some eye contact. “That must be exciting right? I mean, you’re already going deep enough into Shinespright Wood to warrant desporing.”

I exhaled through my nose. “You say it like I needed a procedure done. I don’t even think that’s a real word.”

“Sure it is,” she said, laughing along. “Desporing, to despore someone. Happens a lot more than you think.”

“Well, it’s the first I’m hearing of it.”

“Then you have a lot to learn. Desporing is kid’s stuff. Just wait until you need despiking.”

It was a dumb joke, which was the best kind of joke and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What about deburning?” I asked her.

“Oh, definitely terrible. But still nothing compared to dedrowning,” she said, attempting a deadpan tone but not being able to say it with a straight face.

“Decrushing?”

“Deimpaling.”

“Dezapping!”

“Defreezing!”

“That’s just thawing!” I shouted, eyes screwed shut in laughter.

It took some time for us to quiet down and my cheeks actually felt heavy on my face. I nearly missed the coffee guy call my name and hurried to retrieve what was basically a milkshake. Chocolate and marshmallow swirled inside and the drink was topped with plenty of whipped cream with crumbled up graham crackers sprinkled on top.

“Looks good,” the woman said as I sat back down at our little table. “That’s the S’mores one right?”

“Yeah, want a taste?” I asked, offering it to her. 

She shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks though.”

“Yours is taking a while, what’d you get?”

“Iced Pumpkaboo spice latte. It’s out of season so he had to send his buddy to get the ingredients from the forest.”

“Wait, how long have you been waiting for this coffee?”

“Five hours and 37 minutes,” she said, not even so much as checking her watch.

“What? That’s insane,” I said.

She shrugged, still sporting that casual smile.

“I was craving it,” she said,. “Shinespright Wood is the only place in Southern Gimel with Pumpkaboo and Starfall Village doesn’t exactly have a coffee shop”

She laughed and I didn’t get the joke whatsoever.

“Seems like a pretty long wait just for some coffee.”

“Pumpkaboo spice is the best, definitely worth it. Besides, I’ve been able to relax for the first time in a while and read a few books in the sun. It’s been a pretty good day.”

I took a long sip of my drink, unsure how else to react. This woman was *off* in a way I just couldn’t place.

“Well,” I started after forcing myself off the straw to avoid a brain freeze. “It’s always nice to have a good day.”

“Always,” she echoed. “So what about you, was today a good day for you?”

It was. I saw a brand new pokemon, made a friend, and even had a battle, but I still hesitated in responding even though the answer was a clear yes.

“I think I’ll have to see how the rest of it shakes out before deciding.”

“Oh? Big plans tonight?”

“Sort of, just dinner and a kind of important talk.”

“Well, I hope it goes your way. The region could always use more good days.”

She craned her neck up at the cloudless sky, purples and oranges dancing together in the sunset. 

“Oh!” she exclaimed, as if a light bulb just dinged above her head. “I have a good luck charm, it sounds like you could use it.”

She reached under the table and pulled out a pretty hefty backpack with that same logo as her bookmark printed on one of the front flaps. I immediately noticed the circular bulges in one of the side pockets.

“You’re a trainer,” I said, mind already racing on what kind of pokemon she had.

“Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “You must be new to the region, that explains why you didn’t laugh at my Starfall Village joke. It was hilarious by the way. Here.”

She held out something like a pirate’s hook except bony. I took the thin, curved thing from her and nearly sliced my finger open.

“Thanks?”

“You’re welcome, it’s a razor claw.”

It looked like the nail clippings from a big pokemon, but it was as sharp as a knife.

“It helps pokemon land hits in battle. You really haven’t heard of it?”

“Not once.”

“Even better! You’ll get to see its effects firsthand. A lot of people think items only work on pokemon, but those people are just plain wrong.”

“I remember people at the mall kiosks saying the same thing and trying to sell me sun stone jewelry for healing.”

She laughed, but I did tuck the claw into my pocket. I could use any help I could get my hands on before the meeting with my parents, even if that meant weird weapons from complete strangers.

“If you’re a trainer, is it okay if I ask you something?”

“Fire away,” she said.

“What’s the best part about going on a journey?” I asked, not really wording it the way I wanted to. “Like, obviously there’s the discovery and travelling and everything. But what makes it worth leaving home and family?”

“Hmm,” she said. “I don’t think you’re going to like my answer.”

“Why?”

“It’s kind of a cop out, but the best part is not knowing what the best part is.”

“So just going with the flow?”

“Not quite, but definitely don’t try to force fulfillment or anything like that. Just do whatever you want to do.”

“But figuring out what I want to do is the hard part,” I said.

“And the best part,” she said.

“I really don’t think I’m getting it,” I said.

“You will. Everyone does. If I could go back and relive my journey, I would do it in a heartbeat. But Gimel needs new, young trainers. Even the technically-not-trainers.”

She punctuated her statement with a wink and stood up, reaching a hand out to me. I shook it this time and her grip was much stronger than I figured.

“I think you’re right about it being late for that coffee, he should have been back by now. Shinespright is also a pain at night so I ought to go make sure he’s fine. Crystal, it’s been a pleasure, but the others already get on my case for getting back too late. Make good use of that razor claw for me, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, still not the best at farewells.

She retrieved her bookmark before placing the book back on a shelf and then talking to the barista, a guy in line was all smiles even though she interrupted him. Simple leggings and some athletic shoes completed her outfit, but I still didn’t get the winter wear look. Not wanting to eavesdrop on her conversation with the barista, I returned my magazine and made my leave with my milkshake in tow. 

It was pretty much a straight shot from the coffee shop to my house, but I still took my time. I wanted to tell myself it was because I needed to finish my drink before I got there so I wasn’t hounded by my dad for spoiling my dinner. But I was just procrastinating, putting time and space between now and then. Why the heck did this have me all knotted up inside and wanting to hurl? Did I really want this so badly that the thought of not getting to go on an adventure was making me sick?

I wished I had that woman’s confidence. No, I was plenty confident. I wanted her comfortableness, if that was even a word. She seemed easygoing, although that definitely came with some weirdness considering she spent half her day waiting for a cup of coffee. The razor claw dug into my thigh and I took it out before it could put a hole in my pocket. Maybe I could get some string and make it into a cool necklace, but for now I just eased it into my backpack. Trying to convince Mom and Dad that I’d be safe on a journey and then whipping out a huge claw some stranger gave me probably wasn’t the best idea.

I didn’t feel prepared at all for this talk with them, but maybe that was a blessing in disguise. Yeah, it was a big deal but I shouldn’t head into this wanting to get it over with. Seeing mom’s Jeep in the driveway still put a smile on my face. She left work early for my sake, to make my favorite food, and it was like all that nervousness melted out of me as I did a quick jog to the front door.


	14. Chapter 14

There was no better aroma than tomato sauce and cheese, the smell greeting me first once I walked in. Eric was second.

“Crystal’s home!” he yelled, tilting his head on the back cushion of the sectional to alert the rest of the house before returning to his video game. Alexi was curled up in his lap, one eye open to scope me out before looking back at the screen while Eric played. I tossed my backpack near them and they didn’t even flinch.

Mom came around the kitchen island and I met her halfway for a hug, squeezing her tight. She must’ve gotten home a while ago since she was out of her work clothes and just in a tee shirt and some sweatpants with her logo on them. 

“Welcome home,” she said, peeling off of me. “The lasagna should be ready pretty soon, mind helping me with the salad? Or if you’re wanting to go freshen up, feel free, Alma filled me in on your busy day.”

Of course she did, probably with a slideshow presentation and color-coded transcript attached.

“I can help,” I said, even though a shower sounded really nice right now.

She smiled and I knew I made the right choice. I’d already spent most of my first full day in Gimel out of the house and kind of missed my family, even though Eric was just lazing around. Time with Mom wasn’t rare, but it wasn’t exactly every day that all four of us could be together. 

In just a day, Dad had the kitchen up to his standards. A small spice rack hung off the side of the refrigerator and his indoor berry farm was set up on the far side of the marbled island, mist coming off of it.

“Is Dad out back?” I asked, using the excuse of throwing my coffee cup away to get a better look at the miniature garden.

“Don’t even think about it,” Mom said while I was mid-reach for some of the bluk berries he was growing. I pulled my hand away before I could get caught blue-handed. “He’s feeding the pokemon and working on the backyard some, so I’m sure he would like his only garden in one piece for the time being.”

“How was work?” I asked, changing the subject and heading over to where she was setting up some bowls for the salad. 

“All wins,” Eric called out from the couch.

“Oh yeah?”

She responded with a grin and a shrug.

“Nice,” I said. “How many?”

“Eight,” she said.

“Seven,” Eric said. “The quitter doesn’t count.”

“She absolutely counts. If someone faces me and doesn’t end up with a badge then it’s a win in my books.”

They argued about it a bit more, Eric turning around in his seat and going full nerd by diving into the official Pokemon League rules on what counted as a loss. He kept up with most of the gym leaders and bigger-named challengers when we were in Bet. Having a gym leader for a Mom definitely fed that fire for him, but he was more of a spectator than participant. Maybe having Alexi would change that and he’d actually battle instead of just watching streams online. 

“Were there any new pokemon?” I asked, washing my hands in the sink before getting started.

“Kind of?, I was telling Eric about it earlier,” she said. “It was a Donphan except with a lot of spikes.” 

“An evolution?”

“I don’t think so, just different.”

“Huh,” I said, only imagining a spiky monster truck tire in my head.

I filled her in on the new pokemon Aunt Carol found while we made the salads, chopping up tamata berries and shredding lettuce. The news interested Eric enough to help out as well, Alexi climbing to the top of the sectional to watch us. I shared the photos from the day, including the adorable ones of Laserdream and Antares floating in the lab. 

The back door shut and Dad walked in with his briefcase of poke balls. He set it on top of the fridge and then pecked Mom on the cheek before wrapping me in a hug.

“That’s new,” he said, pointing at the pin Alma made me on my shirt.

“Yeah, I might make some changes to the design, but it was really nice of Alma.”

“There’s a studio in Leonite that helps with branding and graphic design,” Mom said. “We’ll pick a day for you all to come and check out the gym.”

“Are you still doing the same puzzle?” Eric asked.

“I’m still working on the finer details, but hopefully. The gym trainers are down for it, there’s just more red tape to cut and hoops to jump through with this Pokemon League than in Bet.”

Dad made his way past me to carefully check up on his berry garden while talking. “That’s not all bad, at least. You were wanting a league with more structure. Have you reached out to the other leaders or your brother for some tips on navigating it?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s why Mike quit, so not sure how much help he would be. Thousand island?” Mom asked him.

“Please and thank you,” Dad said. She looked at me and I went with the same; Eric opted for ranch.

“The leader at Rigel Port is the only one I’ve been in contact with, but he’s definitely a stickler for doing things by the book,” she said, pouring the salad dressing in our bowls. “The woman in Basin didn’t respond and I’m not even sure if the leader in Mt. Minor actually exists or if it’s some elaborate hazing joke.”

Dad took the lasagna out, the smell and heat in the kitchen intensifying.

“I looked through some of Leader’s Digest and didn’t see anything about them,” I said.

“Yeah, there’s not much online about them either. The Cross Basin gym has streams, but there’s a paywall,” Eric said.

“Strange,” Dad said. 

“They keep to themselves,” Mom said, passing out the finished salad bowls to us.

We dug into them while waiting for the lasagna to cool. Eric and Dad had a pretty chill day, staying at home after the trip to the market and working on the house. Dad had always had a green thumb, there was just not much room to press down with it when we lived in the apartment. His pokemon being able to graze around outside for the first time in forever was also a huge plus and probably the only reason Eric bothered going outside.

By the time we finished our salads and made our plates of lasagna, the conversation rolled back around to my day.

“A Scyther?!” Dad asked, choking a bit.

“Yeah, but we had it handled,” I said.

“You mean Aunt Carol had it handled while you stood around,” Eric said.

“It was important to stand around,” I said. “Don’t be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous of almost getting cut in half,” he said.

“I wasn’t almost cut, we were fine!” I said, voicing raising. I drank some water to try and downplay it. He wasn’t doing me any favors by pointing out how dangerous going out on my own would be.

“Be nice you two,” Mom said, taking a bit before continuing. “Your Aunt Carol actually had a lot to say about how you did today, Crystal.”

“You two talked?” I asked.

“Mhm, on the ride home. You were very helpful, according to her.”

Eric didn’t have a response for that. Praise from Aunt Carol was so rare that it could only be the truth.

“Did she mention anything else?” I asked, trying to act casual by carving up my lasagna. Were seriously going to do this right now? 

“She mentioned a lot, we talked a bit about what you brought up to me last night. Your Dad and I spoke more about it too once I got home.

“Oh yeah?” I said. My heart was racing to the point I could feel it thrum my fork. 

“We think it’s a good idea,” she said.

It was like a lump in my throat I didn’t even know existed melted away and I could breathe clearly. If they weren’t on the other side of the island, I would’ve hugged them. Instead, I had a smile I couldn’t shake.

“Chew, honey,” Dad said.

I didn’t even realize I took a bite and must’ve been staring at them with a mouthful of food. A snort nearly made me spit it back out, but I finished it and swallowed.

“Sorry, I- thank you,” I managed.

“What’s a good idea?” Eric asked, out of the loop.

“Your sister wants to go on an adventure,” Mom said.

Hearing her say it made it sound so much more real, like I wasn’t crazy for thinking it. Eric’s head whipped around at me like it was on a swivel. Part of why I was surprised we were having this talk now was because he was here. Which was silly, considering he looked at me with nothing but joy on his face. It made me feel a teensy bit bad for calling him jealous earlier.

“That’s so cool!”

I seriously couldn’t stop beaming.

“Wait, does that mean you’re just going to leave?” he asked.

“There’s still a lot to figure out, so we were thinking a month from now,” Dad said. “That will give us some time to prepare and sort things out.

I nodded. A month was fine. I could go 30 days. Oh my gosh, I would be on a journey in 30 days.

“In the meantime, you’d be working more with your Aunt Carol. She also mentioned you helping her with research once you started travelling.”

That would explain why Aunt Carol called her. But if she thought I was going to be more free labor like Taylor was then she was crazy. Still, I owed her for putting in a good word.

“That’s fine,” I said. “She actually helped me with Laserdream today.”

I couldn’t take it anymore, I stood up and raced around the island to wrap them both into a hug.

“I love you so much,” I said, fighting back tears so I didn’t look like such a drama queen about it.

“We love you too, sweetie,” Mom said, squeezing my arm.

“Eric, the Professor also wanted us to check if you wanted to help her out. Victoria is leaving fairly soon and she could use the extra hands,” Dad said.

“Oh, maybe,” he said. “You’re not going to make me go on a journey too, right?”

“Not unless you want to,” Mom said, laughing a little. “We’d have to talk more about it since you’re a bit younger, but I’m sure something could be worked.”

“I’m… good,” he said. “I think. A journey sounds like a lot of work.”

I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t hugging him, but Dad’s shoulders relaxed after hearing that. 

“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” Dad said, still making sure Eric knew the option was there even though he’d hate the empty nest.

“I will,” Eric said. “About the journey and the whole helping Aunt Carol thing.”

His only impression on what it was like to work with her was from me describing how we got cornered by a Scyther, so I definitely understood the hesitation. His attention went to Alexi, still relaxing on the back of the couch and not reacting at all to the energy in the room.

“Oh my gosh!” I shouted, letting go of my parents and rushing to the sectional. “I have to tell her!”

“You can text Victoria after dinner,” Mom said.

“Not Victoria, she already knows!”

I grabbed my backpack and ran upstairs, nearly tripping by taking them two at a time.

“Well be quick!” Dad called out to me. “Don’t let your food get cold.”

If they said anything else, I couldn’t hear it, my bedroom door shut. I made a nest out of my blanket before taking Laserdream’s ball out. It took her awhile to get her bearings, knees a little wobbly on the mattress and one of her back legs tangled in the blanket.

“Hey!” I said. She steadied, attention entirely on me a foot from her face.

“Shinx!”

“I have good news,” I said. “You and I are going to go on an adventure!”

Laserdream smiled, mouth open to show off those too cute fangs.

“Shi!”

“It’ll be a month until we head out so we’ll have to train and keep doing our best! Now bring it in.”

Laserdream leaped into my chest and I cradled her, static crackling around us as I spun around while hugging her. After getting a little dizzy, I looked out the big, round window, the night’s sky speckled with stars. There was a shooting star, lasting longer and travelling farther than I’d ever seen before, the golden tail fading away into the night. 

“Gimel, get ready.”


	15. Interlude 1

The inclines were always hardest. Knowing that didn’t make them any easier to overcome. It didn’t make Mount Minor any less steep.

“Almost there,” Mark said, voice drowned out by the whipping winds.

The words were more for himself than Flashbang, but his pokemon reacted nonetheless. They sped up, Flashbang spinning faster to the point he nearly tripped. But he didn’t. He never did. Even when they first went on their journey, riding Flashbang came naturally. It was maybe the only thing Mark truly felt comfortable doing, taking a little pride in himself when Neil tried and failed.

Mark sprinted, putting everything he had into each stride as he ran on top of his Electrode like a treadmill, momentum carrying both of them up the rocky mountainside. Flashbang did most of the work, forcing him to keep up and drive himself forward. Still, gravity took its toll as the path got steeper. Mark took out the pokeball, gripping it tight in his hand.

“Let’s push it,”

“Ectroooooode!” Flashbang shouted.

Their path narrowed, crag getting tall enough that it’d crush them if it suddenly collapsed on top of them. Mount Minor’s exterior was built like a crown around Calvera Village, the eastern side of the mountain rising high into the clouds and looming over the isolated town. There were few reasons to reach Calvera, but those who needed to make the trip were best off going through the western cave entrance from Route 2. But the weather was too nice today to spend time in the dark swatting at Zubat. Besides, Mark was in a hurry.

“You ready?”

Flashbang bobbed, coming inches off the ground and jostling Mark into a grin. It was Flashbang’s best attempt at nodding considering its whole body was its head. The path ahead curved up into a wall ahead and they sped up to meet it. If he timed this wrong then Carol wouldn’t let him hear the end of it. But that only made him more excited.

“Self-Destruct!”

Seconds before they collided with the mountain, Flashbang exploded into sparks and smoke, sending Mark high into the air and over the rocks . His knees were already squeezed tight against his body as he tumbled through wind strong enough he worried it’d send him off course. None of it stopped him from finding his bearings though, picking out Flashbang’s glowing body in the smoke down below. Mark aimed and pressed the button on the ball so that a beam of red light reached Flashbang and recalled it to its ball.

Mark had maybe a second to enjoy the view and he made the most of it. Calvera Village from above wasn’t a view many got to see, civilization crammed into a tight space inside of a mountain. The village was drowned in shadow, the sun resting behind Mt. Minor’s peak and fog swallowing up any sunlight that dared to sneak past it.

There was no panic or fear in Mark’s body as gravity pulled him down. The descent was always easiest, welcoming almost, as a force out of his control took hold. He landed hard on the bluff overlooking Calvera Village, his right fist and knee smacking against the rock and stopping him from going over the edge. The area was outfitted for trainers who came into the city by air, with plenty of room for them to dismount from flying types.

“Good job,” he told Flashbang’s pokeball, squeezing it before tucking it away in his backpack. His heavy backpack, its weight making itself known once he put the straps back on his shoulders.

The rest stop was a little worse for wear compared to his last visit. Something or someone had knocked over the small stand of water bottles and berry bars set up for trainers and Mark took the time to set it all back up. 

He texted Victoria earlier this morning to see if she’d be available for lunch, only to be reminded she was heading home today for Crystal’s party. It was a dumb lapse in judgment on his part, especially considering the only reason he was out this way was for tonight’s festivities. It’d been weeks since she left on her journey and he still felt out of sorts.

With the table set back up, Mark made his way over to the rope ladder that hung over the ledge and down into Calvera. The wind had a hold of it with nothing anchoring it at the bottom, but his weight steadied it as feet found rungs. The elements died down the further he went, air steadying and quieting until there was near silence once his boots hit solid ground.

Calvera Village was carved into the interior of the mountain, the windows and doorways of buildings etched into the rock. Torches took the place of sunlight, staying a safe distance away from the wooden bridges that connected cliffs and ledges throughout the village. Trainers who made it through the western cave down below were rewarded with the long walk up the spiral path to where Mark already was. It was by design that the gym was at the highest point in the village, right next to the other cave entrance that led to the tougher and stronger parts of Mt. Minor.

He still had the gym badge in his old trainer case back at the house, emblems once displayed so proudly and now collecting dust in his closet. The memories put a smile on his face though as he walked past the gym, peering in at the huge battlefield where he and Flashbang battled all those years ago. Things had changed since then and the current leader must’ve been out and about. Mark wasn’t here for him though. 

Mark’s descent continued, waiting at the end of a rope bridge for a pair of boys to walk past. Tattoos covered their left arms, one with electricity zagging from elbow to fingertip while the other had a spiral of water run up to their shoulder, geysers bursting from it at set intervals. Their voices hushed once they reached him.

“That’s some nice work,” he said. When they looked at him funny, he tapped his arm.

“Oh, thanks,” the electric one said.

The water one elbowed him in the side and started to leave. Mark rolled up his sleeve and they stopped. On his bicep was ink of a poke ball half-opened, an electrical storm inside bursting out and sending lightning bolts in all directions.

“Not bad, old man,” the electric one said. Mark let it slide, ignoring the vibration from that nerve being struck.

“Didn’t know Calvera had a shop,” Mark said, rolling his sleeve back down.

“It doesn’t,” water boy said. “J, let’s go.”

The electric guy gave a farewell nod and Mark returned it. They left, walking inside the gym, and Mark made his way across the rope bridge to continue his descent. The pair were younger than he was when he went on his journey and if they were trainers they packed light. He made an effort though, reaching out like he had, trying to connect. Little things could go long ways

He reached his destination about halfway down, able to make out the ground below where wild pokemon roamed for trainers to battle or catch for the gym. Unlike the other buildings in the cliffside in Calvera Village, this one had tiling over the facade that made it look covered in scales. For a recluse, she sure wasn’t afraid of sticking out like a sore thumb for the sake of aesthetic. Mark knocked.

“One moment,” the woman called out. “Come in, Mark.”

The scales on the door shuttered and receded to reveal a doorknob for him to twist open and step inside. The building was one room that looked like a futuristic recreation of the Middle Ages. The walls and floor were stone, except it was all cut in that same reptilian pattern and sanded down until practically smooth. Stairs hinted at a bedroom upstairs, but Mark had no evidence the woman actually slept. She was restless in the way the wind was, only dying down to kick up somewhere else.

“You’re early,” Theresa said, her back to him from her computer desk.

“I’m on time,” Mark said, closing the door behind him.

“Which is early for you,” Theresa said. She spun around in her chair, her smile framed by dark hair that h to her shoulders. “You’ll have to hang tight, it’s nearly done. I was surprised to hear your request come so soon since the last ones I made.”

Carol’s request, he nearly corrected her. Mark helped his wife where he could, but he was hardly an actual assistant when it came to her work. He was there for her in other ways, although it usually felt like picking up slack or running errands. 

“Thanks again,” he said.

“Of course,” she said. “The data helps us both. Promise me this one will see a bit more use though.”

He chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

“Sorry, Victoria can be a little adamant about doing things herself.”

“I wonder who she gets that from,” Theresa joked. She checked up on her computer, tapped a few keys and faced Mark again. “How is Carol, by the way? I emailed her my thoughts on the Shinespright Wood and didn’t hear back.”

“Sorry, this past month has been hectic to say the least,” he said. “I’ll give her a nudge to respond.”

“Thanks,” she said. “ Discovering a new pokemon is definitely a process. I’m sure she will be glad when the paperwork clears and she can relax.”

“For sure,” he lied.

Carol’s time on the job had pretty much doubled in the last month, but not because of her breakthrough in the Wood. Since Victoria left on her journey, she threw herself fully behind her work. When things resolved in the Wood, he was certain she’d find another research project. The region was large enough that her work trips already took weeks. With Victoria travelling, he could see those weeks becoming months. She was having a rough time with the empty nest. They both were.

“Has Victoria stopped by here yet?” he asked.

“Not yet, she’s been spending a lot of time in Nova Cassio and Bask Beach.”

Strange, Mark figured she would make it to the nearest gym as quickly as possibly. It made him worry, which in turn made him feel bad for worrying. Victoria was like her mother in a lot of ways, a mix of brilliance and determination that made her unstoppable once she put her mind to something. Maybe the issue was the latter part? She would’ve gotten that from him, if so.

“She’s mostly training, I think,” Theresa said, probably reading too much into his silence. “A majority of the pokemon she scanned weren’t native to that area and likely from battles with tourists. I could give you a call when she makes it here if you’d like.”

“I’d rather not pry,” he said. “If there’s something she wants me to know, she’ll tell me.”

“Fair enough,” Theresa said. “For what it’s worth, your sister-in-law asked me to keep an eye on her daughter, so it really would be no problem for me to watch out for all three of them.”

He’d forgotten all about the Hebert girl, which only reminded him what else he had to do today once he finished up here. Crystal’s party was only a few hours away, but he didn’t have much faith in Carol holding up her end of the plan. He’d seen her wrangle a herd of Tauros to the ground and outswim a gyarados, but there just wasn’t a chance she’d keep her niece entertained long enough for us to set everything up.

Theresa’s computer dinged and she spun around in her chair, shoes tapping against the stone while she typed. Mark walked over and got a better look at her workstation, a large device that looked like a cross between a toaster and a printer sat beside her monitor, its edges and insides glowing red.

“Victoria will be fine,” he said. “Crystal and Taylor will too, they’re good kids. I won’t speak for Carol, but just clue me in if there are any emergencies.”

“Can do,” she said. 

Mark didn’t know why Theresa lived like this, hidden away in a mountainside. She worked extensively with Carol, but only in a remote capacity and only from this high-tech cave. No one in the region knew more about pokemon than she did, yet Mark wasn’t sure if she’d ever actually seen one in the wild. 

“We’re having a party tonight, by the way,” he said. “You could meet Crystal in person, show her how everything works. There’s barbecue and beer too, if you’re into that.”

“I’ll pass,” she said. “Thanks though.”

He felt better after reaching out, as if extending that olive branch or courtesy absolved washed away that worry and guilt. He could look back and say that he tried, that he had made an effort even though he already knew Theresa wouldn’t be stepping outside for the first time in years for some half-burnt hot dogs.

“It’s an open invite if you change your mind,” he said.

The machine beeped and flashed and then steam spilled out from the openings. After wafting away most of the steam, she reached down inside the middle of it and pulled out the pokedex.

“If you’re giving this to her tonight, then I’ll be able to introduce myself to her regardless. Sorry for the wait.”

She handed over the device and it was light in Mark’s hand despite being as large as a tablet. He folded it once and then collapsed one side to make it the size of a phone, manageable enough that he could hold it in one hand. The front had a large screen that wrapped around the edges while the back had a rubbery grip to it that could be stuck to surfaces. The interior was empty for now, ready to be filled up with information by Crystal once she started her journey tomorrow.

“You’ll like her,” he said, heading for the door.

“I think so,” Theresa said. “She seems fun. Carol called her a wild card.”

“That...” Mark started, weighing it in his head until the truth sat heavy, “is actually pretty accurate. She’s not afraid of asking for help, so be ready.”

“I’m all hands on deck,” Theresa said, waggling her fingers to both demonstrate and say goodbye.

“Get some rest, you’ll need it,” he said, making his leave and closing the door behind him.

Scales covered up the rest of the door, hiding it within the rest of the building. The wind had picked up big time. Any attempts to try and launch back over the wall with Flashbang would probably be met with disaster. He’d have to go through the cave, which was annoying but not the worst thing in the world. It’d give him time to train up Echo at least. Mark made his way down the spiral path, running his fingers over the back of the pokedex where the shape of a Dragonite’s head was etched into the rubber.

It was more of a responsibility than a gift, but Crystal would like it nonetheless. Victoria would be there to help her through most of the functions so she didn’t end up snapping it in half trying to open it. Taylor would be there too, so long as his talk with Danny went well between now and then. It should. He was why Taylor was hesitant going on a journey for herself, even if he didn’t know he was. Hell, even if she didn’t know he was. It was hard to let go, for both of them.

Taylor had friends now, support to strive forward. Mark would be that for Danny. He and Neil would, no matter how many six packs of Budeweiser and poker nights it took. It was a changing of the guard of sorts, their daughters taking their place in the sun. It put a smile on Mark’s face, tucking the pokedex into his pocket. Even if it had him on the sidelines, he was looking forward to it. The winds pushed him forward, down rope bridges and toward the exciting future.


	16. An Adventure Begins: Chapter 15

I ran for my life. It wasn’t an exaggeration in the slightest, a murderous buzz chasing me through Shinespright Wood. It got louder and I couldn’t tell if it was because the Combee were closing in or if more had joined the chase. I didn’t chance a look behind me to tell, my attention entirely focused on not tripping over the thick roots that covered the forest floor.

“Laserdream!’ I shouted, unsure if she would even hear me over the buzz. She ran ahead, a bit more mobile than me as she zig-zagged through the Wood.

“Shinx!” she yipped, not turning around while hopping up and over a rotting log. A pair of Fomantis stumbled out it, angrily waving their sharp arms around only to retreat when they realized we were being chased. 

We were deep in Lurantis territory, the scent of vanilla tickling my nostrils. According to Professor Dallon, the aroma attracted most of the bug types in the forest to this area. Lurantis and Fomantis were the head honchos around here, but even they weren’t foolish enough to pick a fight with a Vespiquen and her hive during the middle of the day.

It was my turn to jump the log and I stumbled a bit on the landing, the jar of honey nearly slipping from my grasp and making this whole trip pointless. If we kept running, we were bound to trip up sooner or later. The clearing where Professor Dallon set up a base camp of sorts was too far for us to reach in time.

“We’re going to have to chance it, Dream,” I called out to her.

She responded by sprinting further ahead, putting enough distance between us that I could barely make out her blue fur. If there really was a whole swarm behind us then it’d be up to me to make sure Laserdream didn’t get stung. She swerved left at a tree with Wurmple clinging to it and I lost track of her in the bushes.

She’d gotten so good at this that I couldn’t help smiling. The red on the Wurmple’s backs served as a good marker and my speed picked up now that I had a finish line in sight. The buzz behind me was still loud though and I could only hope that Laserdream would be ready by the time I got to the Wurmple tree. 

I spun around, my sneakers tearing up the grass before reaching dirt. There was only one Combee, but I didn’t exactly feel relieved seeing it flying at me with each of its three faces twisted in anger. Its wings moved so fast that they were a blur, creating a gust of wind strong enough to knock me down. I stood my ground.

“Laserdream, Tackle!”

On cue, Laserdream rushed out from the bushes near the tree and leapt into the air. She crashed into the Combee before its attack could blow me away, their bodies falling hard onto the forest floor. Leaves that were rustled loose from Laserdream’s ambush were now caught up in the wind, a green flurry making it hard for me to make out the action. But I could see Laserdream pinning the Combee to the ground, stopping it from flying.

“Nice job!”

Laserdream turned towards me with a smile and the Combee used that time to slip out from under her. The leaves settled as it rose back in the air, leaning almost sideways as it tried to get its bearings. The face on its right side looked worse for wear, its wing struggling to match the speed of the other.

“Quick, tackle again before it recovers,” I said. 

She ran forward, jumping on top of a stump to get some height before lunging at the Combee. Laserdream’s landing was more graceful this time around, using her momentum to keep running and looping around a tree. The same couldn’t be said for the Combee, which fell hard to the ground and didn’t look too interested in getting back up. Two hits was something to be proud of for us, but we didn’t have much time to celebrate.

I whistled for Laserdream, breaking her out of battle mode so we could get moving again. Staying in one spot was a recipe for disaster in this part of the forest. Most parts actually, I thought, trying to imagine the forest’s layout while running ahead, Laserdream on my heels.

Up ahead, a dozen or so Kakuna were staked in the ground like tombstones and I veered right to avoid them. I tucked the jar of honey into my cargo pants pocket and then zippered it shut. According to the Professor, this honey was a hot commodity and I really didn’t want some other bug pokemon to see it and get the jump on us. It would make getting back a little longer, but a fight with Beedrill just wasn’t in the cards.

We slowed down a bit now that adrenaline was the only thing catching up to us. The forest had gone quiet enough that I could hear just how hard I was breathing. After a quick check to make sure no Fomantis were lurking around ready to strike, I leaned against a tree, the bark scratching an itch I didn’t even know I had. The sun was setting, orange light sneaking past the treeline and landing on Laserdream basking in the grass. I squatted down to her and rubbed at the yellow bands on her forelegs.

“Need a potion?” I asked. “You’re getting really good at the tackling, but that was our fifth takedown of the day and we’ve been running like crazy too.”

Laserdream shook her head but still let me lift her paw up to get a closer look. There weren’t any scrapes that I could make out, but I still worried. She was a lot smaller than most of the pokemon in the Wood and we had to compensate that with surprise attacks and tricks. Laserdream had gotten pretty good at the hit-and-run tactics, but I wished we didn’t have to resort to her acrobatics to get the job done. 

“Are you feeling… electrical or anything?” I asked, unsure how to really word it.

She tilted her head and then seemed to understand, tugging her paw away and backing up a few steps in the grass. Her body flashed brightly enough that I regretted lending Taylor my sunglasses for the day. Static crackled, the sparks of electricity easy to make out against her light blue fur. They barely reached past an inch off her body, only making the hair stick up in a few places.

I was really hoping she’d learn an electric-type move before tomorrow, especially since flying type pokemon gave her the most trouble. Laserdream seemed to be picking up on my disappointment, turning off her little light show and looking down at the dirt.

“It’s okay!” I said, injecting as much pep into my words as possible. “Just look how strong you must be already if you’re taking down pokemon double your size just by tackling.”

She perked up at that and I rubbed her head, the cowlick of fur on top tickling the skin between my fingers. I picked her up and did my best at hugging all of those worries out of her. She was dirty from running around in this hot weather all day and I couldn’t care less. Professor Dallon tasked us with way more work than usual today. It was probably to get the most use out of us before we left, but today was a bit much on us.

“I could carry you back if you’re feeling tired,” I asked Laserdream, even though I already knew her answer. My words were like a shot of espresso for her ears, legs kicking me in the ribs to jump out of my grasp. She hit the ground running. Her look back to check if I was right behind her gave me a similar boost in energy, legs feeling a little lighter.

I couldn’t tell if she knew what was in store for us for this journey, but I did know she would love it. The field days working with Professor Dallon in the forest were definitely Laserdream’s favorite compared to the shopping trips and errand runs. This past week was mostly spent packing and gathering supplies, so I was glad we had this chance to let our hair down and loosen up before we tackled the forest for real. 

She walked beside me as we made our way back to the Professor. I was kind of surprised none of her Magnemite had checked up on us, but they were probably keeping a closer eye on Eric. It wasn’t like I needed them, I had a good enough mental map of the forest that I didn’t need a literal one. It didn’t take long to learn where the landmarks were either, especially when most encouraged staying as far away as possible. 

Seeing the tree with the graveyard of Kakuna meant we were going the right way, but it also meant we had to avoid the tunnels and pitfalls the burrowing Beedrill used to catch prey. Going too far west before hooking back south would run us into the Staraptor nest. Not west enough before changing direction and we’d miss the clearing and have to deal with the Tsareena’s court. 

The trails connecting Polaria and Aquilar through the Wood were deceptive. They were like the moving walkways at an aquarium, hurrying you along so you didn’t get too good of a look at the Gyarados chasing other pokemon behind the glass. Shinespright didn’t have railing or barriers on its trails, but the worst case scenario when walking them was the stink of a Vileplume or getting a rash. The true Shinespright Wood was a lot more dangerous. Practically every inch was claimed by some pokemon carving out territory, usually literally.

Regardless, I jumped at the chance to explore this part of the forest. The northern exit to Route 1 wasn’t too far from here and was the only way to get to Nova Cassio from Polaria or Aquilar on foot. Victoria and Taylor normally handled those trips, so this was a nice chance to get a better lay of the land. That beaten path to the exit was only about a ten-minute walk from here, but I wanted to see it for the first time tomorrow when I could actually move forward instead of awkwardly turning back around.

A pair of Starly on a tree branch up ahead served as my sign to turn right. Laserdream was still in pretty high spirits, her tail swishing back and forth as we went from tall grass to the dirt trail leading into the clearing. I caught myself walking with a bit of swagger in my step as well, her happiness infectious

The sun made more of its presence known, making me squint to make sure I didn’t get in the way of any pokemon once we arrived. My cargo pants felt heavier with each step, and the jar of stolen honey wasn’t helping. Still, it beat having to lug around a backpack all day. The pants were the first thing I bought with my stipend from helping the Professor. Shorts were a lot cooler for this weather, but it took about a week until I was sick and tired of itchy legs every day. Besides, I was a big fan of the pants’ blue color since it was a pretty close match to Laserdream and there were pockets galore.

I took a pretty opposite approach to my top though, going sleeveless so I didn’t have to worry about anything getting caught or snagging while running around. It meant I had to be a bit smarter about which pokemon I touched though. Which was a shame considering just how cute Oddish and Shroomish were. But I really had gotten smarter out here, even if that annoying little voice in the back of my head kept telling me I wasn’t a true trainer yet. I didn’t think that voice, those doubts, would ever actually shut up, but I was determined to prove it wrong. We would, I reminded myself, watching Laserdream sprint over to a relaxing Alexi in the grass between Eric and the Professor.


	17. An Adventure Begins: Chapter 16

The clearing was quieter than usual, the sunlight that made it such a hotspot now fading as the sun set. A few grass pokemon lingered, stubbornly soaking up the last bits of sun before night came. It made for a pretty sight of orange rays piercing through the treeline, bird pokemon heading home to roost and casting shadows on the field.

Eric and Professor Dallon were situated at the far end of the clearing, her Magnemite loosely orbiting around them. Nico and Lumi were off helping Taylor with whatever errands she was running. I texted her earlier to see if she wanted to get frozen yogurt tonight and I only got a vague answer on what exactly she was up to. Which was pretty weird. Even though Victoria was kind of the social glue that connected us, Taylor and I still hung out most days after work. But, now I wasn’t sure if I was going to see her before I left tomorrow morning.

Laserdream had beaten me to them by a pretty wide margin, already jumping on Eric’s shin for attention. She tried rousing Alexi, but the poor thing looked too tired to walk, let alone play. It made me feel the ache in my own legs, each step making them feel like cement as I walked up to them.

“You’re late,” Professor Dallon said, not looking up from her computer.

“And you’re welcome,” I said. 

I fished the jar of honey out of my pocket and I cringed from the screech of metal as Maxwell and Ingrid scraped against each other fighting to reach me first. Ingrid was the victor, attaching one of its magnets to the lid of the jar. It tested the weight a few times before hauling it over to Professor Dallon, Maxwell lagging behind empty-handed.

As soon as the Professor’s fingertips pressed against the glass, Ingrid let go of the jar for her to hold. I was prepared for some lecture on work ethic since the jar was only half-filled when she’d made such a big deal about me needing to fill it all the way up earlier. Instead, she didn’t even inspect the contents, holding it out for Ingrid to awkwardly pick back up so soon after bringing it to her.

“Thank you,” she said, turning to face me. With her computer no longer in use, Vardy backed away from us. “Did the Vespiquen cause a stir?”

“We got chased by a Combee,” I said. 

“Just one Combee? That’s what took so long?” Eric chimed in.

“It was a very loud Combee,” I said, shooting him a glare.

“Hm, we may have to take more in the future,” Professor Dallon said. Her gaze glued to the part of the forest I came from.

“What exactly are you needing all of this Combee honey for?” I asked.

“Oh, are you wanting it?” she asked. “I suppose it can be a farewell gift.”

“No, that’s not-”

“Nonsense, you’ve earned it after all your hard work today,” she continued. “Ingrid!”

Poor Ingrid was struggling to fit the jar in the Professor’s briefcase and nearly dropped it trying to carry it over to me. I took it from Ingrid just so I didn’t have to watch it struggle any longer with it.

“This was never about the honey, was it?” I asked.

Her smile was slight, but a smile nonetheless.

“Aunt Carol, I could’ve died! What if the whole swarm came after us?”

I swear her expression lit up at the possibility.

“I don’t get it,” Eric said, looking up from petting Laserdream. “We have the honey, you made it here safe, what’s the big deal?”

“What’d she have you doing today?”

“Alexi and I placed some leaf and sun stones around the forest, easy stuff.”

“And why do you think she had you do that?”

“Decoration?”

I sighed but it was hard to blame him. Questioning each and every thing she asked us to do was almost as exhausting as doing them. 

“Eric, she’s trying to instigate stuff in the forest!”

She pretended to type something on her Maxwell-held phone before finally admitting it.

“We’re still observing Krickesta’s impact in the forest, including interactions with other pokemon. The Scyther are restless and the data we’ve gathered from their clashes with Kricketune has been very valuable. I’m hoping to get similar results with other pokemon.”

“I thought the whole point of this was observing how pokemon react without human intervention?” I countered.

“And we’ve done that, first and foremost,” she said. “Snowballs versus snowglobes. That’s how my old mentor would refer to it. For snowball science, it starts with a discovery and then observational study to keep track of how that snowball grows and then the fallout. Snowglobe science is consistent testing of new variables in a relatively static environment. It will be subtle at first, but we’ll start shaking the snowglobe a bit in the coming weeks.”

“By stealing Combee honey and planting evolutionary stones for whatever pokemon to stumble across.”

“Eric did an adequate job placing them, the Gloom should have no issue finding them.”

Eric stood a little straighter from the small amount of praise he was getting for being an accomplice to her meddling. OK, so what she was doing really wasn’t that big of a deal, I was just irked that I did all of that work just to smear something sweet on my bagel tomorrow morning. 

“So what’s your end goal here?” I asked.

That earned her full focus.

“You tell me,” she said, expression softening. “You’ve been out here for almost a month, how do you imagine things playing out?”

“Terribly.”

“I’m being serious, Crystal,” she said. “Your journey starts tomorrow and I wouldn’t be doing my job as a Professor if you didn’t learn anything from this month beyond how to complain.”

She talked in that same way that made everything sound like an argument she’d end up winning. But after this past month with her, I was starting to realize that her tone was a result of habit rather than actual intent. Was she talking down to me or lifting me up?

“If we keep taking honey then the Vespiquen will get more and more upset,” I said, letting the words hang there for me to chew on. Professor Dallon didn’t interrupt or take a quick jab about how obvious what I said was. She let me connect the dots. “But the Vespiquen aren’t the big players running that part of the Wood. They’re not the ones you’re trying to upset. The Lurantis are.”

“But wouldn’t the Lurantis be happy that the Vespiquen and her Combee are being messed with?” Eric asked. “I mean, they’re in the same part of the forest and everything. If the Combee hive is busy dealing with stolen honey during the day, then Lurantis won’t have to worry about being attacked while they’re sunbathing.”

The Professor and I spoke at the same time. I stopped to defer to her, but she gestured for me to explain it to him. Now I was the one standing a little straighter, confidence building.

“They already don’t have to worry about that,” I said. “Lurantis have a weird alliance with Vespiquen and the other bug pokemon. Lurantis let them set up hives nearby so long as they don’t cause too much trouble. The bug pokemon do most of their work during the day while Lurantis charge energy. Then when the night comes, the bug pokemon rest while Lurantis uses that stored energy to patrol and keep the area safe.”

“I believe the pheromones play a large role in it,” Professor Dallon added. “We’ll do more testing in the future to be sure, but the scent Lurantis and Fomantis give off helps placate bug pokemon and make them feel safe and at ease. Grass pokemon are usually weak to bug pokemon, so this would remove a natural weakness.”

“Then why do Scyther and Pinsir and Kricketune still fight Lurantis?” Eric asked.

“Stronger wills?” I guessed, turning to Professor Dallon for a better answer. She shrugged.

“More reason to shake the snowglobe and see,” she said. “Scyther are hard to get research on. Pinsir, doubly so. But we’re diverging a bit from what the purpose of today’s work was about.”

“It’s about forcing changes.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say forcing,” she said. “But you’re on the right track.”

She opclosed her fist a few times before Maxwell noticed. The Magnemite made a few beeps to alert Ingrid and the pair flew over to her briefcase. Together they closed it and used the metallic straps that wrapped around it like a present to carry it over to her, sliding the handle into her waiting palm. 

“Let’s get going before it gets dark,” she said, turning around and walking towards the path to Aquilar. “We can finish talking on the way.”

Polaria Town was in the opposite direction and I was really looking forward to a hot shower and a promised plate of mac and cheese from my dad. But Eric was already following her for some reason. It didn’t take long for her to notice my hesitation.

“Mark can bring you back so long as he isn’t still chatting in Calvera,” she said, no break in her stride. “Besides, it’s better we stick together if you were that worried over _one_ Combee.”

She gave Eric a look and a smile after her little joke about putting me in harm’s way. But I couldn’t even be that upset; the expression she wore might have been the most genuine glimpse of humanity I’d seen in her with that lab coat on. What had her in such a good mood?

I looked down at Laserdream to figure out what she wanted to do, but she was already walking alongside Alexi.

“Fine, but we can’t stay for too long,” I said, hurrying to keep up.

The dirt path from the clearing to Aquilar Town was wide enough that we didn’t have to awkwardly shuffle behind each other for people to pass by us heading the other way. The foot traffic nearly doubled in Shinespright Wood around this time of day, the sunset serving as the backdrop for people’s trips home after working in Nova Cassio or shopping at Aquilar Market. They weren’t the only ones on the move, the grass rustling and leaves falling as pokemon hurried about. It was a brief window of peace, a truce between the pokemon now that there wasn’t any more sun to fight over.

“The pokemon in this region are a special sort,” she said. “Wild pokemon are naturally territorial and social, but those in Gimel are known for it. Dynamics like the relationship between Lurantis and bug pokemon are fairly common.”

A Pidgeotto landed on a branch in front of us that was already occupied by a pair of Spearow. The Spearow neared closer, hopping along the branch until they were right beside the Pidgeotto.

“Eric, have you seen the Beedrill tree here?” she asked, turning back our way as the trio of bird pokemon took flight. Eric shook his head.

“We’ll make a trip there this weekend then,” she said. Vardy approached her with her computer in tow, a color-coded calendar showing on the screen. She shooed it away and continued. “The Beedrill are different in other regions compared to Gimel. Elsewhere, they’re bug and poison types and their hives are in enough forests that antidotes for their venom are practically a requirement for trainers to carry.”

If Beedrill were that common in Bet, Eric and I wouldn’t know. Dad was pretty strict about us not going out where wild pokemon were, even though there weren’t exactly any deadly forests near our old apartment.

“They don’t seem like that big of a deal here though,” I said.

“You can blame the birds for that,” she said. “In other forests, Beedrill can fly freely and hunt grass and bug pokemon without much threatening them.”

“Wait, they fly?” I asked.

She nodded, looking up to the sky as we walked down the trail. The pokemon flying above were too far to make out, but none were alone, groups of silhouettes gliding around branches and leaves.

“In the other regions, yes,” she said. “Normally bird pokemon like Staraptor and Pidgeot form rivalries and their strife opens up airspace for other pokemon to operate. But the bird pokemon of Shinespright Wood have an alliance of sorts. Other than the Murkrow, they all look out for one another and fly each other home at the end of the day.”

“Aww, that’s kind of nice,” Eric said.

“Not for the Beedrill,” she said as we neared the exit. “It happened long before I became Professor, but they were forced to adapt in order to survive. Weedle were easy enough prey that they weren’t able to set up hives in trees and the Beedrill were outnumbered if they tried to fight off the flocks.Their venom wasn’t enough against pokemon that were already dealing with more potent poison types in the forest. They were almost wiped out.”

The sun was gone now and we nearly walked right into Professor Dallon when she turned around to face us. It wasn’t completely dark yet, but it was still like a light switch had been flipped off in Shinespright Wood. It had gotten much quieter, but there was still a sense of activity throughout the forest. A stronger sense even, like a calm before a storm. The laptop Vardy carried lit up Professor Dallon’s face in a way that had to be intentional on its part as she continued talking.

“But they persevered, choosing to go underground rather than fighting for airspace,” she said. “They dig up the roots of trees, burrowing tunnels in their place. When the tree dies, they move on to the next one.”

The image of the Kakuna staked in the ground became a little more eerie-looking in my head. Knowing that wasn’t the case for Beedrill in other regions really amped up the spooky factor since what they were doing wasn’t normal at all.

“Why wouldn’t they just pick a different forest to live in then?” Eric asked.

I expected her warm smile to heat up into something a little more scalding, but there wasn’t even a trace of her usual condescension in her expression.

“Because this is their home,” she said. “There are some Beedrill nearby in Routes 1 and 2, but even those will be the same bug and ground types like here in Shinespright. I haven’t looked too extensively into Beedrill migration patterns, but most stay close to home rather than going all over Gimel.”

She turned back around pretty quickly and walked off, leading us out of the forest and into Aquilar Town. The Professor was hard to read, but it didn’t take a psychic type to figure out she was having a hard time with Victoria out on her journey. Maxwell hovered over to her to see if she needed anything only to be shooed away as we started the decline down the hillside to town.

“So you’re trying to gauge if Lurantis have another evolution or adaptation thing they can do,” I said. 

If there was anything that always managed to lift her spirits, it was her work. Although I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. She was spending a lot of time here, even camping some nights with just her and her Magnemite. It really wasn’t surprising that she had taken to meddling in the pokemon’s lives, probably trying to warrant spending more time here. 

“If the Kricketune can, then it stands to reason that other pokemon can as well,” she explained, raising her voice so she could be heard over the wind. “Maybe the bug pokemon revolt against the Lurantis and they adapt their pheromones to compensate, gaining a secondary typing or even evolving. It may take weeks, it may take months.”

“Or they don’t change at all and you’re just wasting your time,” I said, the thoughts spilling out of my mouth. Eric wasn’t paying attention, watching Laserdream and Alexi running ahead to the town square.

Professor Dallon didn’t stop or react in any way that I could notice as we reached town. The buildings blocked the wind and I could make out the faded action of the night’s battles taking place behind Aquilar Market.

“Everything changes,” she said. “Pokemon, people, everything. It’s my job to keep up with it all and that’s far from a waste of time. Sometimes change is obvious and other times it’s hard to tell if anything is different at all. You of all people should be well aware of that.”

Before I could ask what she meant by that, my phone buzzed. I figured it would be my dad asking if everything was fine, but it was a text from Taylor apologizing about missing my messages earlier. I typed up a response saying it was no big deal, but before I could send it she texted me again asking me to come to the lab. She was being weird too, but at least I’d get to see her.

Laserdream and Alexi had run up ahead, Eric on their heels to make sure they didn’t cause too much havoc as we made our past Aquilar Market. He’d left that awful hoodie at home, instead wearing probably the only athletic shirt in his whole closet. I hurried up to match the pace of Professor Dallon, making sure to get close so she could hear me over the crowd watching battles behind the market. Vardy immediately flipped around, hiding the computer from me and giving us some breathing room. It was smothering having Maxwell and Ingrid lingering over our shoulders like this. How did she deal with this all of the time?

“I’m sorry if I hit a nerve saying it was a waste of time,” I said.

She was either ignoring me or wanting me to continue, my words hanging there as we started up the hill to the lab. 

“I really do appreciate everything you’ve done to help me out this month, Aunt Carol”

“It’s Professor while we’re-”

“Aunt Carol,” I said, cutting her off before another lesson. “Thank you.”

She paused, Maxwell nearly colliding into her before it swerved out of the way.

“Thank you,” she said, continuing up the hill. “I know I can be demanding at times.”

I could think of more than a few other things she could be but I kept quiet. Street lights got sparser the further we climbed, but it looked like the lab had its lights on.

“I’ve enjoyed having your help these past few weeks,” she continued. “With Victoria gone…”

“It’s been busier,” I supplied, sparing her from trying to put her obvious empty nest feelings into actual words.

“It has,” she said. “You’ve stepped up in ways I admittedly didn’t think you could.”

Again with the backhanded compliment. Still, I’d take what I could get. Laserdream, Alexi, and Eric were already up at the lab and out of view.

“I’ll make sure Victoria comes with me when I visit,” I told her.

She laughed and the dry sound of it made it clear she didn’t do it often.

“There’s nothing in Gimel that can make her do something she doesn’t want to do.”

Gee, I wonder where she got that from.

“That’s probably true,” I said. “But I’m pretty sure she’ll want to.”

Hopefully she didn’t think I was lying just to make her feel better. Victoria and I had still been in close contact, although through video chats and texting instead of in person. Which was kind of ridiculous considering she’s just been chilling at some inn in Nova Cassio right up the road. Still, during each conversation she’d find a way to see how her parents were doing. 

Aunt Carol and I continued up the hill until we were just a few steps away and she put her hand on my shoulder, holding us both up. There were voices up ahead; Eric and Taylor probably talking shop but I smelled something off. Was that me? I really could use a shower, but it didn’t smell bad or anything.

“Crystal,” she said. The winds whipped around us but her words were as clear as day. “You don’t have to make the most of your journey.”

I blinked a few times trying to process that.   
  
“When I went on my journey, there was pressure. From other trainers, your gramps, everyone. But the expectations that smothered me the most were my own. There were things your mom and I were told we’d never be able to do.”

She ran her free hand through her hair, almost forgetting it was in a ponytail and nearly breaking it free.

“We did our best because we had to,” she said. “You should do your best because you want to, Crystal. I know I’m not exactly the most involved when it comes to the aunt side of things, that’s my fault. But I’d still appreciate a call here and there from my favorite niece.”

“I’m your only niece,” I said with a laugh.

“Exactly,” she said. “Now, go give it your all.”

She pushed me forward up the stairs and into the front of the lab. There was so much force behind it I thought I was going to fall forward. Instead, I was flat-footed, stunned by the scene in front of me. Taylor and Victoria laughed with plates of food in their hands. My dad and Uncle Mark chatted with some other guy behind a grill. Even Alma was here, floating above some of my dad’s Mareep.

Laserdream saw me first, jumping out of my mom’s arms and running towards me. It was enough to break people from their conversations and put all attention on me.

“Surprise!” everyone shouted.


End file.
